W.  W    SMITH, 

SUTTON.   P.  Q. 


THK 


STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT; 

OR, 

TYRANNY  ON  THE  FRONTIER. 

BY  A.  L.  O.  C. 


BOSTON : 
THE    WARREN     PRESS, 

l6o  WARREN   STREET, 
1903. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Parliament,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  ninety -eight,  by  AV.  AV.  SMITH,  In  the  Office  of  the 
Minister  of  Agriculture  and  Statistics  at  Ottawa. 


PREFACE. 


For  precept  must  be  upon  precept,  precept  upon  precept ; 
line  upon  line,  line  upon  line  ;  here  a  little  and  there  a  little. — 
(Isa.  xxviii.  10.) 

This  is  a  divinely  appointed  rule  to  which  we  will  do  well 
if  we  take  heed,  as  it  will  save  from  many  disappointments  and 
discouragements. 

The  writer  of  "  The  Story  of  a  Dark  Plot"  has  no  hope  by 
this  work  of  revolutionizing  society  or  even  working  any  very 
marked  reforms.  Books  and  essays  on  temperance  topics  are 
numerous,  and  this  is  but  one  among  many.  However,  it  is 
hoped  that  this  may  prove  one  of  the  lines  and  precepts  that 
are  of  some  service  to  the  cause.  There  is  always  need  for 
those  who  are  on  the  right  side  of  any  important  question  to 
unfurl  their  banners  and  show  their  colors  bravely,  but  just 
now,  in  connection  with  the  temperance  movement  in  our 
Dominion,  there  is  a  very  special  call  for  action  presented  by 
the  Plebiscite. 

We  sometimes  read  on  the  pages  of  fiction  exciting  and 
blood-curdling  tales  of  deep  laid  plots  for  murder  and  other 


4  PREFACE. 

crimes,  but  just  when  our  feelings  are  being  aroused  to  the 
highest  pitch,  we  pause  and  comfort  ourselves  with  the  thought 
that  after  all  this  is  only  imaginary. 

Or  perchance,  we  may  read  the  truthful  details  of  a  more 
or  less  successful  attempt  to  end  the  life  of  a  fellow  being,  but 
if  we  are  unacquainted  with  the  persons  concerned  in  the  affair 
and  the  circumstances  which  led  to  it,  and  especially  if  it 
happened  some  distance  from  us,  we  feel  but  little  interest 
in  it. 

Again  we  find  in  the  records  of  the  past  that  thousands 
have  suffered  and  many  died  in  a  really  good  cause, —  the 
victims  of  depraved  and  brutish  persecutors  who  hated  what 
was  good.  We  cannot  doubt  the  truth  of  the  statements  nor 
the  innocence  of  the  sufferers,  but  we  may  be  tempted  to 
complacently  remark  "  the  martyr  age  is  past."  But  if  we  look 
about  us  with  unprejudiced  eyes,  we  must  see  that  the  sufferers 
for  conscience  sake  are  still  not  a  few. 

The  details  of  the  dark  plot  as  given  in  these  pages  are  all 
matters  of  fact,  and  perhaps  if  all  the  particulars  could  be 
known,  it  might  seem  blacker  even  than  now.  Moreover,  it 
happened  in  an  old  and  progressive  county  of  Eastern  Canada, 
just  across  the  border  from  New  England,  and  Mr.  Smith  had 
incurred  the  anger  of  his  persecutors  only  by  trying  to  enforce 
law  and  order  and  working  for  the  protection  and  uplifting  of 
his  fellow-men. 

In  view  of  such  facts,  let  the  voters  of  our  Dominion  pause 


PREFACE.  5 

ere  they  give  their  sanction  to  a  system  which  throws  around 
the  makers  and  venders  of  alcoholic  liquors  the  protection  of 
the  strong  arm  of  the  law. 

That  this  volume,  by  showing  the  liquor  party  in  its  true 
light,  and  thus  warning  our  countrymen  of  their  position  and 
danger,  may  be  the  means  of  arousing  some  who,  though  tem- 
perance people  at  heart,  are  sleeping  on  guard,  and  of  adding 
a  few  to  the  ranks  of  active  workers  for  the  cause  of  right,  is 
the  earnest  prayer  of 

THE  AUTHOR. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  publication  of  this  book  has  been  with  the 
approval  of  some  of  the  best  thinkers  on  the  temper- 
ance question,  and  we  doubt  not  that  its  careful 
perusal  by  all  who  read  it  will  prove  a  stimulus  in 
connection  with  the  cause  of  temperance,  and  if  they 
are  timid  or  hesitating  will  cause  them  to  become 
decisive  in  the  noble  work  for  humanity.  It  is  a 
well-known  fact  that  the  grand  old  County  of  Brome 
is  one  of  the  banner  counties  in  every  thing  which 
is  helpful  to  the  cause  of  morality,  and  we  hereby 
offer  a  fraternal  hand  to  all  our  co-workers  in  the 
Dominion,  and  pray  God's  blessing  may  rest  on 
every  effort  put  forth  that,  whatever  may  be  the  pri- 
vate opinion  they  may  entertain  respecting  the  course 
pursued  by  the  government,  in  order  to  ascertain 
the  minds  of  the  people  on  the  prohibition  ques- 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

tion,  they  may  not  only  pray  right,  but  when  the 
time  presents  itself  may  vote  right.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  a  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  our 
county  are  true  to  prohibition  principles,  yet  a 
minority  would  not  hesitate,  if  possible,  to  repeal  the 
Scott  Act,  as  was  evidenced  in  the  dark  plot  which 
was  enacted  in  our  midst,  but  which  could  not  be 
carried  out  until  a  rough  from  another  country  was 
hired  to  commit  the  murderous  assault,  which  was 
made  on  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith,  one  of  the  most  earnest 
temperance  workers  in  the  Province  of  Quebec, 
President  of  the  Brome  County  Alliance  for  five 
terms  in  succession,  and  who  is  actively  engaged  in 
sustaining  the  Scott  Act  in  our  county,  and  saving 
from  the  sad  consequences  of  the  traffic  the  tempted 
and  the  fallen. 

J.  H.  F., 

SUTTON. 


THE 

STORY  OF  A  DARK   PLOT; 

OR, 

TYRANNY  ON  THE  FRONTIER. 
CHAPTER    I. 

PREVIOUS   EVENTS  WHICH    LED  TO  THE  ASSAULT. 

There  are  few  communities,  however  small,  that 
have  not  been  aroused  and  stirred  into  action,  by 
some  uncommon  event,  or  where  opposing  parties 
have  never  rejoiced,  and  mourned  over  a  triumph  of 
one  at  the  other's  expense,  and  often  have  men  and 
women,  unappreciated  by  the  many,  bravely  suffered 
for  their  fidelity  to  a  good  and  beloved  cause.  Thus 
the  little  County  of  Brome  has  been  stirred  to  the 
depths  of  its  soul  by  the  actions  of  contending 
parties,  and  especially  by  a  deliberate  attempt  to 
hinder  the  work  and  destroy  the  life  of  a  law-abiding 


IO  THE   STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

citizen.  Mr.  William  W.  Smith,  the  hero  of  this 
dark  plot,  was  a  native  of  the  county  which  had  al- 
ways been  his  home,  and  had  been  during  about 
fifteen  years  the  Agent  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Rail- 
way Company  at  Sutton  Junction.  During  those 
years,  he  had  been  a  man  of  the  world,  fond  of  pleas- 
ure, and  not  objecting  to  a  social  glass,  and  it  is  not 
surprising  that,  amid  all  the  temptations  of  railroad 
life,  he  had  already  felt  the  awful  power  of  an  appe- 
tite for  strong  drink.  But  he  was  led  to  see  his  dan- 
ger and  to  flee  from  it,  largely  through  the  influence 
of  his  beloved  companion,  a  faithful  Christian,  who 
rests  from  her  labor,  and  her  works  do  follow  her. 
Breaking  his  bonds  by  the  power  of  God,  he  became 
not  only  a  temperance  man,  but  a  Christian,  and  in 
his  great  joy  and  gratitude  for  his  own  salvation  was 
filled  with  a  desire  to  warn  and  rescue  others,  whose 
feet  were  treading  the  same  slippery  paths.  He  then 
began  holding  Gospel  Temperance  Meetings,  as  he 
had  opportunity  in  many  places  mostly  within  the 
County  of  Brome.  This  county  has  long  held  an 
honored  position  as  being  one  of  the  leading  tem- 
perance counties  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada, 
because  during  many  years  no  license  to  sell  intoxi- 
cating liquor  as  a  beverage  has  been  granted  within 
its  borders,  and  a  temperance  law  known  as  the 


EVENTS   WHICH  LED   TO  ASSAULT.  II 

Scott  Act  had  been  in  force  for  eight  years  previous 
to  1893,  when  the  second  attempt  was  made  by  the 
liquor  party  to  obtain  its  repeal.  Like  the  serpent 
in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  the  liquor  sellers  of  the  pres- 
ent day  are  remarkable  for  their  subtility,  and  many 
are  the  innocent  victims  entangled  in  the  meshes  of 
the  net  woven  by  their  deceptive  tongues ;  therefore, 
it  need  not  seem  strange  that  they  should  display 
great  power  and  influence,  even  in  a  so-called  tem- 
perance community.  In  the  spring  of  1893,  the  liq- 
uor party  in  Brome,  having  decided  that  they  had 
been  troubled  by  an  anti-license  act  quite  long 
enough,  sent  out  their  agents  to  various  parts  of  the 
county  with  innocent  looking  papers  to  which  they 
wished  to  obtain  signatures.  They  called  upon  all 
the  known  supporters  of  their  party,  and  also  upon 
that  doubtful  class  of  persons  which  sometimes  proves 
to  be  among  their  best  helpers,  although  counted  as 
temperance  people.  To  this  doubtful  class  they 
carefully  explained  that  the  petition  they  bore  did 
not  ask  for  the  repeal  of  the  Scott  Act,  but  only  re- 
quested that  an  election  be  held  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  the  matter  'before  the  people,  and  deter- 
mining their  minds  upon  the  subject.  Therefore, 
they  were  told  the  signing  of  this  petition  was  in 
no  way  equivalent  to  voting  against  the  Scott  Act, 


12  THE  STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

nor  would  they  be  bound  to  vote  against  that  Act 
if  an  election  was  brought  about.  Many  names 
were  appended  to  the  petition,  the  desired  election 
took  place,  and  very  hard  did  the  liquor  men 
work  to  obtain  a  result  that  should  favor  their 
cause. 

However,  not  all  the  faithful  work  was  on  their  side. 
A  few  temperance  speakers  came  from  distant  places, 
and  held  many  interesting  meetings  in  different  parts 
of  the  county,  but  perhaps  the  most  efficient  work 
was  done  by  people  living  in  the  county,  who  in 
many  cases  seemed  to  possess  greater  influence  than 
strangers  could  exert.  Mr.  J.  W.  Alexander,  at  that 
time  Principal  of  the  Sutton  Model  School,  added 
more  recruits  to  the  ranks  of  earnest  workers  by 
organizing  a  number  of  his  pupils  with  a  few  other 
young  people  into  a  band  which,  under  the  name  of 
the  "Young  People's  Temperance  Crusaders,"  did 
good  work  during  the  ensuing  weeks.  Older  work- 
ers were  admitted  into  the  society  as  honorary  mem- 
bers, and  the  officers  were  chosen  from  among  these. 
One  of  the  honorary  members  was  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith, 
who  was  also  one  of  the  Committee  appointed  to 
accompany  the  younger  members  and  aid  them  in 
their  meetings,  and  no  one  worked  harder  to  retain 
the  Scott  Act  than  he.  He  took  an  active  part  in 


EVENTS   WHICH  LED   TO  ASSAULT.  13 

nearly  every  Crusade  meeting,  and  on  evenings, 
when  the  Crusaders  were  not  thus  employed,  held 
other  temperance  meetings,  thus  occupying  nearly 
every  night  during  three  or  four  weeks  in  the  heat 
of  the  campaign.  Not  content  with  this,  he  worked 
and  argued  by  day  as  well,  and,  associating  his  work 
with  prayer,  did  not  cease  from  his  efforts  until,  on 
June  1 6th,  1893,  the  polls  were  closed  and  the  vic- 
tory for  God  and  the  temperance  cause  was  won. 
The  hotel-keepers  and  their  confederates  had  gained 
that  for  which  their  petition  has  asked,  but  plainly 
they  were  far  from  satisfied  with  the  result  of  the 
contest,  and  many  were  the  curses  pronounced  upon 
Mr.  Smith  as  one  of  the  most  active  opposers  of 
their  cherished  plans.  Now  the  vote  against  them 
was  greater  than  ever  before,  yet  they  were  not  con- 
tent to  abide  by  the  voice  of  the  people  which  they 
had  seemed  so  anxious  to  obtain,  but  practiced  the 
illegal  sale  of  alcholic  drinks  until  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
every  hotel-keeper  in  the  County  of  Brome  was 
known  to  be  boldly  and  frequently  breaking  the  law. 
A  great  cry  of  the  liquor  men  while  attempting  to 
repeal  this  law  had  been  "The  Scott  Act  is  all  right 
if  you  would  only  enforce  it ;  we  don't  want  a  law 
which  is  not  carried  out,"  and  it  was  now  the  wish  of 
those  who  had  sustained  the  Act  to  prevent  any  fur- 


14  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

ther  complaints  like  this.  Therefore,  on  the  eve- 
ning of  Feb.  26th,  1894,  a  public  meeting  was  held 
in  Sutton  to  discuss  the  circumstances  and  form  plans 
for  work,  and  at  the  close  a  society  was  organized 
to  secure  the  enforcement  of  the  Scott  Act  in  the 
township  of  Sutton.  Mr.  Smith,  who  had  been 
instrumental  in  bringing  about  this  conference, 
was  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Society. 

One  of  the  leading  temperance  organizations  of 
Canada  is  that  known  as  the  Dominion  Alliance, 
which  is  divided  and  sub-divided  into  provincial  and 
county  branches.  When,  on  April  25,  1894,  the 
Brome  County  Branch  of  the  Alliance  held  its  an- 
nual meeting  for  the  election  of  officers,  Mr.  Smith 
was  chosen  its  President  for  the  ensuing  year.  Here 
was  field  for  increased  usefulness,  and  he  took  up 
his  work  with  a  zeal  that  soon  won  the  disapproval 
both  of  the  liquor  party  and  a  certain  class  of  so- 
called  temperance  people  whose  principal  work  for 
the  cause  usually  lies  in  criticism  of  the  work  of 
others. 

Soon  a  public  meeting  of  the  Alliance  was  an- 
nounced by  the  new  President  to  be  held  at  Sutton, 
and  a  large  number  of  people  gathered  in  the  hall  on 
the  evening  appointed.  Many  speakers  addressed 


EVENTS   WHICH  LED   TO  ASSAULT.  15 

the  audience,  and  told  in  no  uncertain  words  that  the 
law  must  be  enforced  and  offenders  must  be  pun- 
ished. It  had  not  been  deemed  best  to  prosecute  the 
liquor  sellers  without  first  giving  them  a  fair  and 
public  warning,  and  therefore  this  meeting  had  been 
called ;  but  now  that  they  were  notified  of  the  inten- 
tions of  the  temperance  people,  if  detected  in  dealing 
out  the  liquid  poison,  they  had  only  themselves  to 
blame.  True  to  these  announcements,  Mr.  Smith 
and  others  proceeded  at  once  to  obtain  satisfactory 
evidence  of  the  traffic  in  strong  drink  which  was 
known  to  be  taking  place  in  the  various  hotels.  This 
was  by  no  means  a  slight  task,  for  though  the  liquor 
sellers  were  not  willing  to  keep  the  law,  they  were 
entirely  willing  to  preserve  the  appearance  of  so  do- 
ing, and  very  loath  to  sell  liquor  in  the  presence  of  a 
stranger,  while  the  testimony  of  their  regular  cus- 
tomers could  not  be  relied  on.  However,  the  task 
was  done,  and  the  evidence  gathered  was  sufficient  to 
condemn  nearly  every  hotel-keeper  in  the  county  to 
imprisonment  or  a  fine.  On  June  6th,  these  cases 
were  considered  in  the  District  court,  at  Sweetsburg, 
Quebec,  and  punishment  was  meted  out  to  the  offend- 
ers. In  some  instances  where  the  offences  merited 
imprisonment  a  fine  was  allowed  instead,  and  this 
was  accepted  by  the  Alliance  President,  who  believed 


1 6  THE  STORY  OP  A  DARK  PLOT. 

that  justice  should  be  tempered  with  mercy.  This 
bit  of  leniency,  however,  was  not  taken  into  account 
by  the  liquor  sellers  in  considering  his  treatment  of 
them.  They  appeared  to  have  altered  their  opinions 
as  to  the  enforcement  of  the  law,  and  their  anger 
waxed  hot,  while  many,  often  ranked  with  the  tem- 
perance people,  were  in  sympathy  with  them.  Divi- 
sions occurred  in  temperance  societies,  because  some 
of  the  members  had  friends  who  were  made  to  suffer 
by  the  imposing  of  fines  on  the  lawbreakers,  and 
members  of  secret  brotherhoods,  who  felt  it  their 
duty  to  uphold  their  brethren  in  good  or  evil,  com- 
plained of  the  injustice  of  thus  depriving  the  hotel- 
keepers  of  the  property  they  had  earned ;  some  even 
declaring  such  transactions  to  be  on  a  par  with  the 
meanest  theft.  Meanwhile  the  liquor  sellers  and 
their  allies,  who  had  already  by  the  recent  trials  been 
shown  to  be  a  company  of  lawbreakers,  seemed  to 
be  forming  plans  of  their  own.  Many  dark  whispers 
floated  through  the  county  to  the  effect  that  W.  W. 
Smith  had  better  look  out  for  his  personal  safety, 
and  some  declared  with  an  air  of  wisdom  that  they 
would  not  like  to  be  in  his  position,  while  a  suspi- 
cious looking  stranger,  said  to  be  a  horse  buyer,  was 
noticed  by  some  to  be  frequenting  the  hotels  at  Sut- 
ton  and  Abercorn,  and  attending  the  horse  races  in 


EVENTS   WHICH  LED   TO  ASSAULT.  If 

the  vicinity.  However,  Mr.  Smith  had  not  the  spirit 
of  fear,  and  believing,  as  he  said,  that  "the  Lord  will 
take  care  of  his  own,"  he  continued  as  usual  to  go 
from  place  to  place  on  errands  of  temperance,  or  any 
other  work  which  he  felt  claimed  his  attention. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE   MIDNIGHT   ASSAULT. 

Thus  matters  went  on  until  the  night  of  July  /th, 
1894,  when  Mr.  Smith  drove  out  from  his  home  and 
returned  somewhat  late.  After  caring  for  his  team 
he  went  into  the  station.  It  was  afterwards  told  that 
some  young  men  had  noticed  a  stranger  at  the  depot 
that  night,  who  had  appeared  to  be  waiting  for  a 
train  but  had  not  gone  away  on  any.  After  the 
crowd  at  the  station  had  dispersed,  and  the  inmates 
of  the  building  had  retired,  as  there  was  little  night 
work  to  be  done,  Mr.  Smith  went  into  his  home  in 
the  station,  where  his  brother's  family  were  then  liv- 
ing with  him,  and  having  obtained  a  pillow  for  his 
head  went  back  to  the  waiting-room,  where  he  lay 
down  upon  a  settee  and  dropped  asleep. 

An  article  published  in  the  Montreal  Daily  Wit- 
ness soon  after  this  so  well  describes  some  of  the 
circumstances  which  cluster  round  the  events  of  that 
night  at  Sutton  Junction  that  we  give  some  parts  of 
it  here.  It  says: 


THE  MIDNIGHJ  ASSAULT.  ig 

"The  liquor  selling  ruffians  will  descend  to  any 
warfare  however  dastardly  and  mean  when  forced  by 
law  to  a  standstill.  There  is  something  in  the  sad 
business  that  degrades  every  one  in  it.  This  time  it 
is  liquor  sellers  in  Brome  County  that  are  indicted. 
Mr.  W.  W.  Smith,  President  of  the  Brome  County 
Branch  of  the  Dominion  Alliance,  is  also  the  station 
agent  at  Sutton  Junction  for  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  Company.  As  president  of  the  Alliance  he 
represents  the  temperance  element  of  course,  and 
that  is  the  element  determined  to  carry  out  the  law 
against  liquor  selling.  Mr.  Smith  represents  them 
in  this.  In  doing  so  he  is  certain  to  make  enemies. 
He  has  been  assiduous  in  his  duty,  and  has  been 
threatened  several  times.  These  threats  did  not  keep 
him  from  actively  participating  in  efforts  to  secure 
the  conviction  recently  of  several  lawbreaking  liquor 
sellers  in  Brome,  some  of  whom  were  convicted,  and 
have  had  sentence  suspended  over  them  pending 
their  good  behavior.  On  Saturday  night,  Mr.  Smith 
took  the  night  operator's  place,  arranging  that  the 
latter  should  take  his  place  on  Sunday.  After  secur- 
ing everything  for  the  night,  Mr.  Smith  lay  down  on 
the  sofa,  never  dreaming  that  any  evil  was  to  come 
to  him." 

Instead  of  copying  the  account  of  the  assault  which 
follows  the  above,  we  will  describe  the  facts  as  nearly 
as  possible  as  they  have  been  related  by  the  victim 
himself. 


2O         THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

It  was  between  one  and  two  o'clock  on  Sunday 
morning,  July  8th,  when  Mr.  Smith  was  attacked  by 
the  cowardly  miscreant  who  has  thus  made  himself 
notorious.  We  say  "cowardly,"  because  when  a 
large,  strong  man  who  carries  arms  and  is  a  profes- 
sional fighter,  as  he  appears  to  have  been,  attacks  a 
man  who  is  weaponless  and  not  more  than  two-thirds 
his  size  by  giving  him  a  stunning  blow  upon  the 
head  while  he  is  asleep,  there  is  clearly  no  evidence 
of  heroism  on  the  part  of  the  man  who  makes  the 
assault.  Yet  this  was  what  Mr.  Smith's  brave  assail- 
ant did  ! 

After  receiving  the  first  blow,  Mr.  Smith  felt  a 
strange  sensation  as  though  he  were  taking  a  long, 
happy  journey,  and  he  thinks  he  was  aroused  by  his 
assailant  attempting  to  drag  him  from  the  settee. 
As  a  train  was  going  by  before  daylight,  it  is  the 
opinion  of  many  that  his  intention  may  have  been  to 
leave  his  victim  stunned  upon  the  railway  track,  that 
the  locomotive  might  complete  the  frightful  work 
which  he  had  begnn.  At  least,  he  doubtless  intended 
by  some  means  to  guard  himself  from  suspicion  and 
leave  Mr.  Smith  entirely  unable  ever  to  identify  him. 
When  he  saw  that  the  object  of  his  brutal  attack  was 
arousing  he  struck  him  a  second  time,  but  this  blow 
not  having  the  effect  of  the  former  one,  Mr.  Smith, 


THE  M1DNIGH T  ASSA ULT.  21 

who  was  now  fully  conscious,  although  he  could  not 
see  clearly,  grappled  desperately  with  his  foe.  He 
saw  a  long  weapon  of  some  sort  waving  fiercely  above 
his  head,  and  now  and  then  received  a  blow  from  it, 
while  his  assailant  was  constantly  dragging  him  nearer 
the  door,  and  he  struggling  to  remain  in  the  room 
fearing  the  villain  might  have  associates  outside. 
Mr.  Smith  was  all  the  time  shouting  "murder,"  as 
loudly  as  possible,  but,  his  mouth  being  filled  with 
blood,  he  was  unable  to  make  himself  clearly  heard, 
and  his  calls  brought  no  assistance.  At  length,  be- 
ing somewhat  weakened  by  the  blows  he  had  received, 
he  was  dragged  outside  in  spite  of  his  efforts  to 
remain  within,  but  still  no  one  came  to  the  help  of 
either  himself  or  his  antagonist.  The  two  men,  still 
struggling  desperately,  passed  on  from  the  upper  to 
the  lower  platform  without  the  station,  and  thence 
to  the  railway  track  below,  and  finally  back  to  the 
lower  platform.  Then  Mr.  Smith  got  possession  of 
the  weapon  which  his  assailant  had  been  wielding, 
and  the  last  hope  of  his  enemy  seemed  to  vanish 
with  the  loss  of  that,  for,  freeing  himself  from  the 
grasp  of  the  man  whom  he  had  thought  a  few  min- 
utes before  was  entirely  in  his  power,  he  disappeared 
in  the  darkness,  and  fled  up  the  track  in  such  haste 
that  he  did  not  even  stop  for  his  hat,  which  was 


22  THE  STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

found  by  some  one  upon  the  platform  next  morning. 
The  weapon  which  he  left  in  Mr.  Smith's  possession 
proved  to  be  a  large  piece  of  lead  pipe  well  battered 
and  bruised,  near  one  end  of  which  was  attached  a 
short  piece  of  rope,  apparently  intended  to  be  slipped 
around  the  wrist  of  the  user  so  that  the  weapon  might 
be  concealed  up  his  sleeve. 

Mr.  Smith,  having  seen  his  enemy  retreat,  hastened 
to  the  part  of  the  house  where  his  brother's  family 
were  sleeping,  and  thence  to  the  other  part  where  a 
Mr.  Ames  and  family  lived,  and  aroused  the  inmates 
of  both  apartments,  who  were  very  much  surprised 
and  alarmed  at  thought  of  the  frightful  scene  which 
had  been  enacted  so  close  to  the  apartments  where 
they  were  calmly  sleeping.  However,  there  was  one 
brave  man,  a  train  hand,  who  was  sleeping  above  the 
scene  of  the  assault,  who  declared  that  he  had  heard 
the  blows  when  given,  but  did  not  go  down  to  learn 
the  cause  as  he  "did  not  want  to  mix  up  in  it,"  and 
was  afraid  he  might  get  hurt.  There  are  far  too 
many  people  who  display  the  same  disposition  when 
others  within  their  reach  are  in  danger  or  in  need  of 
assistance.  When  the  people  of  the  house  were 
awakened  it  seemed  already  too  late  to  capture  the 
retreating  criminal,  but  Mr.  Smith's  injuries  were 
.  attended  to,  and  a  message  sent  at  once  by  telephone 


THE  MIDNIGHT  ASSAULT.  2$ 

to  Sutton  for  a  physician.  The  bruises  proved  to  be 
very  severe,  and  it  seems  to  be  a  modern  miracle  that 
life  itself  was  spared. 

The  article  from  the  Witness, 'part  of  which  we 
quoted  above,  after  describing  the  assault,  says : 

"A  good  deal  of  indignation  is  felt  by  the  law- 
abiding  people  not  only  of  Sutton  Flats,  but  of  the 
county,  and  it  is  hoped  that  every  effort  will  be  made 
to  discover  the  perpetrator.  The  woollen  cap  and 
slung-shot  should  give  a  clever  detective  a  good  clue 
to  work  upon.  Some  time  ago,  at  the  public  meet- 
ing called  to  discuss  the  liquor  question,  Mr.  Dyer, 
M.  P.  for  the  county,  said  that  the  authorities  had 
been  twitted  by  the  liquor  men  for  not  enforcing  the 
Scott  Act.  That  reproach  might  have  been  justified 
in  a  measure  at  least,  as  there  was  some  doubt  as  to 
the  opinion  of  the  people  in  its  favor.  But  in  1893 
the  liquor  men  had  appealed  —  and  perhaps  it  was 
well  they  did  so  —  to  the  county,  to  decide  whether 
that  law  should  be  enforced  or  not.  The  county  had 
declared  against  the  liquor  men.  Now  the  time  had 
come  when  this  majority  should  stand  at  the  back 
of  the  officials,  and  all  should  endeavor  to  enforce 
the  law.  Mr.  Dyer's  remarks  at  the  time  were  taken 
to  represent  the  desire  of  the  law-abiding  people  of 
Brome  County.  In  carrying  out  this  idea,  Mr.  Smith, 
they  contend,  was  simply  doing  his  duty,  and  it  is 
expected  that  in  doing  it  he  had  the  majority  of  the 
people  of  the  county  with  him." 


24  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

This  brutal  assault,  made  upon  a  law-abiding  citi- 
zen by  one  whom  he  had  never  injured  in  any  way 
is  a  fair  sample  of  the  fruits  of  intemperance  wher- 
ever found.  There  are  those  who  have  seemed  loath 
to  believe  that  Mr.  Smith's  strong  temperance  con- 
victions and  his  activity  in  carrying  them  out  were 
the  real  causes  which  led  to  the  bitter  hatred  that 
inspired  this  fiendish  act.  They  seem  to  think  it 
impossible  that  "respectable  (?)"  citizens  of  a  tem- 
perance county  should  attempt  in  such  a  reckless, 
lawless  way  to  prevent  opposition  to  their  traffic  in 
strong  drink.  But  what  is  there  incredible  in  this? 
When  we  consider  that  traffic  in  strong  drink  means 
a  trade  in  the  souls  of  men,  women  and  children, 
and  in  innocence,  virtue  and  hope ;  when  we  remem- 
ber that  the  bartender  daily  takes  from  his  customers 
the  price  of  food,  clothes,  health,  respectability  and 
all  that  he  has  of  real  value  in  the  world,  and  gives 
him  in  return  nothing  but  liquid  ruin  ;  when  we  know 
that  the  rumseller's  business  is  a  sort  of  wholesale  mur- 
der continually,  inasmuch  as  by  it  millions  of  lost  souls 
are  sent  into  eternity  annually ;  in  view  of  all  these 
facts,  why  should  we  be  surprised  when  the  liquor 
sellers  of  a  community  plan  together  to  rid  themselves 
of  one  who  has  vigorously  opposed  their  dangerous 
work?  It  is  only  another  form  of  the  same  business. 


THE  MIDNIGHT  ASSAULT.  2$ 

The  disclosures  following  the  assault  upon  Mr. 
Smith  convinced  many  people  of  the  evils  of  the 
liquor  traffic,  and  some  who  had  favored  and  pitied 
the  hotel  keepers  when  they  had  been  fined  for  law- 
breaking  now  turned  against  them,  feeling  that  they 
could  no  longer  uphold  their  deeds.  Meantime,  some 
of  the  hotel  keepers  of  the  vicinity  gave  evidence  of 
their  guilt  by  disappearing  from  the  locality  very 
soon  after  the  assault  took  place. 

The  investigation  of  the  affair  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  S.  H.  Carpenter,  Superintendent  of  the 
Canadian  Secret  Service,  and  detectives  were  at  once 
set  at  work  upon  the  case.  Either  Mr.  Carpenter  or 
one  of  the  men  under  his  direction  was  constantly  in 
the  vicinity,  seeking  to  obtain  clues  by  which  to 
determine  the  guilty  party.  One  man,  who  lived 
near  the  mountain  pass  between  Sutton  and  Glen 
Sutton,  declared  that,  early  on  the  morning  of  July 
8th,  he  had  seen  two  men  pass  his  house  driving 
very  rapidly  and  going  in  the  direction  of  the  latter 
village,  one  of  the  men  having  no  hat,  but  wearing  a 
cloth  around  his  head.  Of  course  this  story  had  an 
air  of  significance  inasmuch  as  the  assailant  of  the 
previous  night  had  left  his  hat  at  Sutton  Junction, 
but  it  did  not  prove  to  be  of  much  importance.  It 
was  soon  settled  in  the  minds  of  many  that  the 


26  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  -PLOT. 

stranger  whom  we  have  mentioned  as  having  been 
frequenting  the  hotels  at  Sutton  and  Abercorn  had 
been  the  wielder  of  the  lead  pipe  on  July  8th,  but 
his  name  and  whereabouts  were  not  to  be  obtained, 
as  he  had  been  sailing  under  false  colors  during  his 
stay  in  the  country,  and  those  who  were  initiated 
into  the  secrets  of  the  case,  of  course,  kept  silence. 

At  length,  Mr.  Smith  received  a  letter  from  a 
woman  in  Vermont,  who  had  formerly  been  em- 
ployed at  one  of  the  hotels  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
assault,  and  soon  after  he  met  this  same  woman  at 
Sutton,  and  her  evidence  was  a  great  aid  towards 
locating  the  assailant.  She  knew  nothing  about  the 
pretended  Boston  horse-buyer,  who  had  apparently 
forgotten  the  object  of  his  northward  journey  and 
disappeared  without  having  purchased  any  of  the 
Canadian  steeds,  but  she  remembered  an  American 
having  once  stopped  for  a  time  at  the  hotel  where 
&he  was  then  working,  and  from  the  description 
given  it  seemed  that  he  might  be  the  same  man. 
The  one  whom  she  described  she  said  came  from 
Marlboro,  Mass.,  and  thither  a  man  was  soon 
despatched  in  search.  It  proved  that  the  man  to 
whom  she  had  directed  Mr.  Smith  was  not  the  one 
in  question,  but  in  searching  for  him  the  real  perpe- 
trator of  the  crime  was  found,  as  he .  chanced  to 


THE  MIDNIGHT  ASSAULT.  2>] 

be.  also  a  resident  of  Marlboro,  Mass.  Having 
located  his  man,  the  gentleman  in  search  returned 
home,  leaving  in  Marlboro  a  Canadian  detective 
who  should  keep  watch  of  the  man  until  Mr.  Car- 
penter went  there.  However,  when  Mr.  Carpenter, 
who  was  accompanied  by  Mr.  Smith,  reached  the 
place,  the  man  whom  they  sought  had  already  been 
lost  track  of  by  the  detective,  but  after  a  few  days 
Mr.  Smith  saw  him  in  company  with  several  others, 
and  at  once  identified  him  as  being  the  man  whom 
he  had  seen  in  the  vicinity  of  Sutton  Junction  pre- 
vious to  the  assault,  and  also  as  having  the  form  and 
gait  which  he  had  noticed  his  assailant  to  have  when 
he  had  watched  him  fleeing  from  the  scene  of  his 
cowardly  attack.  Soon  this  man  was  captured  at 
Hudson,  Mass.,  a  place  about  five  miles  distant  from 
Marlboro.  He  was  arrested  by  Chief  of  Police 
Skully  of  Hudson  and  Policeman  Hater  of  Worces- 
ter, and  taken  to  Fitchburg.  The  name  of  this 
young  man  who  had  apparently  come  very  near 
being  a  murderer  was  Walter  W.  Kelly,  and  he  had 
been  a  bartender  in  Marlboro,  which  probably 
made  him  feel  more  sympathy  for  his  Canadian 
brethren  when  their  liberty  to  sell  intoxicants  was 
interfered  with. 

While  at  Fitchburg,  Kelly  was    advised  to  yield 


28  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

himself  up  and  go  freely  to  Canada  with  Mr.  Car- 
penter and  Mr.  Smith,  because,  he  was  told,  they 
were  determined  to  have  him  at  any  cost,  and,  if  he 
made  them  the  trouble  and  expense  of  extraditing 
him,  he  would  only  be  obliged  to  lie  in  jail  a  much 
longer  time  before  his  trial  could  take  place,  whereas 
the  sentence  of  punishment  would  doubtless  be  just 
as  severe  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other. 

Acting  in  the  spirit  of  this  advice  he  gave  himself 
up  into  the  hands  of  Detective  Carpenter  and  went 
with  him  to  Montreal,  where  he  acknowledged  his 
guilt,  and  also  told  that  he  had  been  hired  to  do  the 
deed  by  John  Howarth,  a  young  man  who  lived  with 
the  hotel  keeper  at  Abercorn,  and  that  James  Wil- 
son, one  of  the  hotel  keepers  at  Sutton,  had  driven 
the  team  which  carried  him  to  and  from  the  Junction 
on  the  night  of  the  assault. 

Mr.  Smith,  who  had  also  accompanied  Mr.  Car- 
penter to  Montreal,  at  once  returned  home,  and,  hav- 
ing notified  a  number  of  his  friends  and  procured  a 
constable  from  Knowlton,  Que.,  went  in  company 
with  several  others  from  Sutton  to  Abercorn,  on 
Saturday  night,  August  2 5th,  for  the  purpose  of 
arresting  Howarth.  On  a  Saturday  night  also,  just 
seven  weeks  previous,  a  smaller  company  of  men 
had  gone  from  Sutton  in  the  opposite  direction,  not 


THE  MIDNIGHT  ASSAULT.  29 

to  arrest  a  guilty  man,  but  to  assault  an  innocent 
man,  not  in  the  cause  of  right  and  justice,  but  of 
wrong  and  injustice.  But  now  it  seemed  that  the 
tide  had  turned ! 

The  little  company  of  "  friends  of  temperance " 
surrounded  the  Abercorn  hotel,  and  the  constable, 
going  to  the  door,  called  loudly  to  Mr.  Jenne,  the 
proprietor,  who  was  doubtless  in  the  land  of  dreams. 
Mr.  Jenne,  who  appeared  to  be  somewhat  suspicious, 
was  loath  to  open  his  house  at  that  unseemly  hour, 
and  demanded  his  visitor's  name ;  but  the  constable, 
giving  a  fictitious  name,  enquired  for  John  Howarth, 
and  when  that  individual  made  his  appearance,  he 
was  at  once  arrested  in  the  name  of  the  Queen. 
Seeing  the  people  outside,  neither  he  nor  Mr.  Jenne 
dared  resist,  and,  being  assured  by  the  latter  that  he 
would  soon  have  him  free  again,  Howarth  accom- 
panied the  constable  to  the  jail  at  Sweetsburg,  feel- 
ing, doubtless,  much  less  pleased  with  his  future 
prospects  than  he  had  felt  when  planning  by  violence 
and  bloodshed  to  frighten  the  temperance  people 
into  submission  or  silence,  and  leave  himself  and 
his  congenial  associates  free  to  drink  and  sell  as 
much  liquor  as  they  chose.  Thus  Satan  may  some- 
times appear  to  his  servants  as  a  very  good  master 
when  they  serve  him  faithfully,  and  accomplish  his 


3O  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

designs,  but  when  they  fail  to  carry  out  some  of  his 
cherished  plans  and  find  themselves  in  danger  and 
trouble,  as  a  result  of  their  zeal  in  his  service,  then 
he  proves  a  very  poor  sort  of  comforter.  Better  far 
to  serve  a  Master  who  will  not  forsake  His  followers 
in  time  of  need  ! 

A  few  days  later  an  attempt  was  made  to  arrest 
James  Wilson,  who  had  left  the  hotel  at  Sutton,  and 
was  thought  to  be  staying  at  Glen  Sutton,  his  former 
home.  This  expedition  is  so  fully  described  by  an 
article  in  the  Montreal  Daily  Star  that  we  quote 
from  it  here.  The  two  local  guides  mentioned  in 
this  report  were  W.  W.  Smith  and  his  brother,  H.  S. 
Smith.  The  account,  dated  August  3ist,  is  as 
follows : 

"A  mysterious  midnight  expedition  left  Richford 
Station,  Vermont,  a  little  after  twelve  this  morning, 
and  disappeared  in  the  gloomy  shadow  of  Mount 
Sutton.  The  party  was  composed  of  Superintendent 
Silas  H.  Carpenter  of  the  Canadian  Secret  Service,  a 
Star  reporter  and  two  local  guides.  The  object  of 
the  expedition  was  a  search  for  James  Wilson  and 
M.  L.  Jenne,  hotel  keepers  of  Sutton  and  Abercorn, 
for  whose  arrests  Carpenter  held  warrants.  These 
men  are  accused  of  being  the  conspirators  who  organ- 
ized, aided  and  abetted  the  arrangements  for  the  at- 
tempted and  nearly  successful  murder  of  W.  W. 


THE  MIDNIGHT  ASSAULT.  31 

Smith,  the  President  of  the  Brome  County  Temper- 
ance Alliance,  who  for  some  time  has  been  like  a 
thorn  in  the  side  of  the  Brome  County  hotel  keepers, 
because,  by  insisting  upon  the  enforcement  of  the 
law,  to  wit,  the  Scott  Act,  he  spoiled  their  profitable 
liquor  trade.  The  excellent  means  of  communica- 
tion in  the  counties  of  Missisquoi  and  Brome,  by  tel- 
ephone and  otherwise,  necessitated  the  greatest  care 
in  keeping  the  purpose  of  the  trip  secret,  especially 
because  the  entire  county  seems  to  be  situated  too 
dangerously  near  the  American  border  line  for  officers 
of  the  law  to  take  any  chances,  and,  accordingly,  the 
ground  had  to  be  reached  from  Sweetsburg  in  a 
round-about  way.  It  was  with  grave  apprehension 
that  the  officers  of  the  court  and  the  citizens  of  that 
town  let  our  small  party  depart  on  what  to  them  ap- 
peared a  most  dangerous  errand ;  it  seemed  perfect 
folly  to  them  that  Detective  Carpenter  alone,  with  only 
a  Star  reporter,  should  thus  attempt  to  'beard  the 
lions  in  their  dens '  —  and  on  a  very  dark  night,  too  ! 
"Why,  they  said,  when  the  constable  from  Knowl- 
ton  went  to  arrest  Howarth,  another  of  the  alleged 
conspirators  who  lives  in  the  same  vicinity,  last  week, 
he  surrounded  the  house  with  a  cordon  of  twenty 
men.  They  said,  besides,  the  Wilsons  were  known 
as  a  righting  family,  who  would  never  allow  a  mem- 
ber to  be  arrested  easily.  As  to  Jenne,  no  two  men 
would  be  able  to  prevent  him  from  slipping  out  of 
the  house  and  escaping.  As  it  turned  out,  Mr.  Car- 
penter had,  in  a  measure,  a  greater  success  than  even 
he  anticipated.  Since  the  arrest  of  the  man  Kelly, 


32  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

who  was  hired  to  do  and  perpetrated  the  act  of  as- 
sault, those  who  were  interested  in  the  plan  of  getting 
rid  of  Mr.  Smith  have  evinced  a  really  remarkable 
preference  for  the  air  across  the  line,  and  a  score  of 
residents  of  this  vicinity  more  or  less  connected  with 
Brome  liquor  interests  have  emigrated  to  the  neigh- 
boring towns  of  the  United  States,  hoping  that  they 
may  not  be  extradited.  Mr.  Carpenter's  little  ex- 
cursion cost  a  good  many  people  beside  himself  their 
night's  rest.  The  first  house  where  Wilson  was  sup- 
posed to  be  was  searched  at  about  three  this  morn- 
ing, and  three  other  houses  were  subjected  to  a 
similar  process  within  the  next  two  hours.  At  the 
last  place  Wilson's  parents,  wife  and  sick  child  were 
found ;  but  they  pleaded  utter  ignorance  of  the  head  of 
the  family's  whereabouts.  There  is  little  doubt  but 
that  he  is  in  hiding  in  the  States.  Jenne's  hotel,  at 
Abercorn,  was  visited  about  six,  and  he,  too,  was  in 
the  States.  But  Mr.  Carpenter  gave  Jenne's  son  such 
convincing  proofs  that  his  father  would  be  extradited 
anyhow,  and  that  his  staying  away  would  only  be 
considered  an  acknowledgment  of  guilt,  that  the  old 
man  was  sent  for  and  decided  to  come  to  Canada 
without  trouble.  It  is  known  that  the  confession  of 
Kelly,  now  under  arrest,  implicates,  directly  and  in- 
directly, a  dozen  or  so  of  well-known  people  around 
here.  There  is  a  promising  prospect  for  penitentiary 
terms  for  several  of  them." 

In  the  above  account  is  given  evidence  of  both  the 
guilt  and  cowardice  of  these  hotel  keepers.     When 


LIQUOR  POWER. 


NOTICE     TO    C.  P.  R.     EMPLOYE  65 


WHETHER    ON.  OR  OFF  DUTY,  YOUR  T»ME     BE 

LONGS    TO  THE  COMPANY.    AMD    YOU  ARC 
WARNED     NOT    TO  TAKE     ANV   PART    IN 
TEMPERANCE     WORK,    INVOLVING     OPPOSI 

TION    TO      THE     L'QUOR       POWER.       ON     PAIN     Of 

0  ISM  1 5 

,  ^-^rSSSfc^ 

ORDER  OF  THE  POWER 
COUNTERSIGNED 


THE   GENERAL    MANAGER   OF  THE   GENERAL   MANAGER.-G 


THE  MIDNIGHT  ASSAULT.  33 

men  concoct  plans  of  evil  which  they  dare  not  exe- 
cute in  person,  and  then  hire  a  foreigner  to  carry 
them  out,  it  is  not  strange  if  they  prove  too  cowardly 
to  face  justice  when  their  part  in  the  crime  has  been 
made  known.  It  is  little  wonder  if  they  seek  a  for- 
eign clime,  but  more  strange  that  they  do  not  hide 
for  shame  after  their  fear  of  punishment  is  lessened. 
Is  it  because  they  find  too  many  sympathizers  at 
home? 

Let  those  who  doubt  that  this  crime  was  under- 
taken because  of  the  temperance  principles  of  its 
victim  search  the  records  of  other  localities  for  par- 
allel cases.  Many  earnest  men  and  women  have 
suffered  for  the  same  cause.  Satan  never  yields  a 
foot  of  ground  anywhere  without  fighting  vigorously 
to  retain  it,  and  no  important  reform  was  ever  inau- 
gurated but  it  met  with  strong  opposition  from  the 
first. 

The  more  important  a  reform  also,  that  is  to  say, 
the  more  it  is  opposed  to  the  rule  of  the  powers  of 
darkness,  the  more  bitter  the  persecution  is  likely  to 
be  which  meets  it  at  every  step.  Witness  the  fierce 
opposition  to  the  spread  of  Christianity  in  the  early 
centuries  and  the  persecution  which  has  almost  al- 
ways followed  its  introduction  into  a  new,  neglected 
region.  The  temperance  reform  has  been  no  excep- 


34  THE   STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

tion  in  this  respect,  and  as  a  leading  temperance 
worker  has  said  :  "  The  martyr-roll  of  temperance  is 
just  as  sacred  as  that  of  any  other  reform  that  was 
ever  inaugurated." 

This  same  worker,  Mr.  J.  C.  Nichols,  gives  a 
sketch  in  this  connection  which  may  be  of  interest  to 
the  readers  of  this  narrative.  It  is  of  a  young  man 
in  New  Orleans  —  a  young  man  pure  and  earnest, 
such  as  the  world  everywhere  has  need  of.  He  was 
a  zealous  temperance  worker,  and  had  met  with  con- 
siderable success  in  this  work,  which  lay  so  near  his 
heart.  One  dark  night,  alone  and  unarmed,  he  was 
crossing  a  bridge  beyond  which  lay  a  clump  of 
bushes.  When  he  reached  these  bushes  he  was  con- 
fronted by  six  men  with  weapons  who  lay  in  ambush 
waiting  for  him.  They  sprang  out  and  shot  him, 
and,  not  content  with  that,  bruised  and  battered  his 
features  beyond  recognition.  And  then  his  noble 
mother  wrote  to  Miss  Willard,  President  of  the 
World's  W.  C.  T.  U.,  that  she  had  yet  two  boys  left, 
and  she  had  rather  they  would  die  as  he  had,  fight- 
ing for  the  right,  than  that  either  of  them  should 
turn  aside  to  the  right  hand  or  the  left. 

These  six  men,  attacking  one  defenceless  temper- 
ance man,  displayed  the  same  spirit  of  cowardice  as 
their  northern  brethren  show  when  they  hire  a  stran- 


THE  MIDNIGHT  ASSAULT.  35 

ger  to  do  the  work  for  them.  They  had  greater  suc- 
cess attending  their  efforts,  but  probably  there  was 
no  more  hatred  or  revenge  in  their  hearts  than  was 
in  the  hearts  of  the  Brome  County  liquor  sellers  when 
they  sent  to  Massachusetts  for  a  prize  fighter  to  come 
north  to  injure  and  perhaps  kill  a  Christian  temper- 
ance worker. 

Through  the  providence  of  God,  the  plans  of  these 
men  do  not  always  succeed,  and  when  they  do  the 
real  victory  is  often  for  God  and  the  right  rather  than 
for  them,  because  no  right-thinking  man  or  woman 
can  but  oppose  them  and  their  business  when  they 
see  such  fruits  of  the  traffic.  North  or  south,  the 
nature  and  effects  of  intemperance  are  ever  the  same. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE   AUTUMN   COURT. 

The  Autumn  Court  of  the  District  of  Bedford  was 
opened  at  Sweetsburg,  Que.,  on  Thursday,  August 
3Oth,  1894,  and  at  this  session  the  Sutton  Junction 
Assault  Case  was  considered.  The  lawyers  in  charge 
of  the  case  were  H.  T.  Duffy,  on  behalf  of  the  Alli- 
ance, and  E.  Racicot,  on  behalf  of  the  accused  hotel 
keepers.  The  court  room  was  thronged  each  day 
with  eager  listeners,  and  much  interest  was  evinced 
both  by  the  temperance  and  anti-temperance  people. 

The  following  account  of  proceedings  at  court  and 
other  matters  relating  to  the  assault  case  is  from  The 
Templar,  a  temperance  paper,  published  in  Hamil- 
ton, Ont,  and  a  large  part  of  this  description  was 
also  published  in  the  Montreal  Daily  Witness : 

"The  excitement  in  Brome  County,  Quebec,  over 
the  arrest  of  several  prominent  liquor  sellers  on  the 
charge  of  conspiring  to  murder  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith, 
President  of  Brome  County  Temperance  Alliance, 


THE  AUTUMN  COURT.  37 

increases  as  the  developments  are  becoming  known 
to  the  public.  According  to  the  evidence,  there 
remains  no  longer  any  question  that  Mr.  Smith's 
devotion  to  Prohibition,  and  particularly  his  deter- 
mined stand  for  the  honest  enforcement  of  the  Scott 
Act,  which  is  in  force  in  that  county,  made  him  a 
shining  mark  for  the  vengeance  of  the  men  whose 
trade  and  profits  were  so  seriously  affected  thereby. 
The  confession  of  Walter  Kelly,  the  assailant,  that 
he  was  employed  to  'do  up'  Mr.  Smith  because  he 
was  a  man  who  gave  the  hotel  keepers  much  trouble, 
and  had  to  be  thrashed,  as  well  as  the  payment  of 
money  by  Mr.  Jenne,  proves  the  animus  of  the  as- 
sault, while  the  general  evidence  indicates  a  wide- 
spread conspiracy,  embracing  others  than  the  accused, 
to  cause  the  diabolical  crime.  The  publicans  of 
Brome,  and,  indeed,  the  liquor  traffic  as  a  whole,  lie 
under  the  terrible  suspicion  of  sympathy  with  this 
crime.  It  is  not  beyond  the  traffic.  Its  record  is 
traced  in  blood  as  well  as  tears.  The  Templar  is 
quite  ready  to  believe  that  there  are  men  in  the 
business  who  would  shrink  with  horror  from  the  very 
thought  of  engaging  in  such  a  deed  of  blood,  but  the 
assault  upon  Mr.  Smith,  of  Sutton,  is  the  natural 
fruit  of  the  damnable  business,  and  those  exceptions 
have  not  been  wholly  dominated  by  the  genius  of 
the  traffic.  What  cares  the  liquor  seller  who  suffers 
while  he  thrives?  The  excitement  centres  at  Sweets- 
burg,  where  the  court  is  engaged  in  hearing  the  evi- 
dence against  James  Wilson  and  M.  L.  Jenne,  hotel 
keepers  at  Sutton  and  Abercorn,  who  are  charged 


38  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

with  conspiring  to  murder  Mr.  Smith.  The  prelim- 
inary hearing  began  last  Friday  morning.  People 
had  come  from  all  parts  of  the  surrounding  country, 
and  several  newspaper  people  from  across  the  line, 
male  and  female,  were  on  hand. 

"The  Magistrates  occupying  the  bench  were 
Messrs.  C.  H.  Boright  and  G.  F.  Shufelt ;  Mr.  H.  T. 
Duffy  was  prosecuting  attorney,  with  Hon.  Mr.  Baker 
as  counsel.  Sheriff  Cotton  was  also  present.  The 
prisoner,  John  Howarth,  was  represented  by  Mr.  E. 
Racicot,  and  was  in  court. 

"  Howarth  is  an  American,  and  still  a  young  man. 
He  is  closely  shaven,  and  wears  his  hair  cropped 
short.  He  came  here  about  three  years  ago,  with  a 
stallion  worth  about  $1000,  in  which  he  owns  a  half 
interest.  The  man  who  owns  the  other  half  still  lives 
in  the  States,  and  by  means  of  tedious  litigation  has 
been  trying  to  get  his  share.  This  man  at  present 
lives  with  the  Jennes,  at  their  hotel  at  Abercorn.  He 
is  one  of  the  principal  figures  in  the  case,  because 
he,  it  is  said,  was  the  man  to  whom  the  entire  man- 
agement of  the  attempted  murder  was  entrusted. 

"Mr.  Smith  is  a  medium-sized  man,  with  a  heavy 
blonde  mustache,  and  is  a  fluent  talker,  who  evidently 
is  very  much  in  earnest  in  his  temperance  work.  He 
seems  to  possess  the  lives  of  the  proverbial  cat ;  but 
many  people  here  prophesy  that  they  will  not  be  of 
avail  to  him  much  longer — meaning  thereby  that  the 
liquor  men  will  yet  be  the  death  of  him.  This  does 
not  seem  to  worry  him  much,  however. 

"Kelly  is  a  well  built  man,  a  little  over  medium 


THE  AUTUMN  COURT.  39 

height,  with  dark  brown  hair,  restless,  dark  eyes,  and 
a  small  mustache,  turned  to  a  needle  point  at  each 
end.  It  cost  a  great  deal  of  time  and  trouble 
to  locate  him;  once  nabbed,  he  turned  Queen's 
evidence. 

"  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith  was  the  first  witness.  His 
testimony  consisted  in  a  description  of  the  assault  as 
our  readers  are  already  familiar  with  it.  He  nar- 
rated how  he  had  warned  the  hotel  keepers  against 
breaking  the  Scott  Act,  on  pain  of  prosecution,  and 
how,  by  interposing  on  their  behalf,  he  had  saved 
many  of  them  from  prison.  He  concluded  his  evi- 
dence with  a  description  of  Kelly's  attempt  to  mur- 
der him.  Every  eye  in  the  court  room  was  fixed 
upon  Walter  Kelly,  the  man  who  committed  the 
murderous  assault,  as  he  entered  the  witness  box. 
It  was  generally  known  that  he  had  turned  Queen's 
evidence,  and  would  tell  a  thrilling  story.  He  took 
the  situation  very  coolly,  and  after  explaining  that  he 
had  been  a  bartender  in  Marlboro,  Mass.,  gave  the 
following  testimony : 

"  'Some  time  before  the  end  of  June  last,  I  was 
shown  a  letter  by  a  man  named  Flynn,  which  re- 
quested him  to  come  or  send  a  man  to  do  a  job,  and 
it  was  stated  that  there  was  good  money  in  it.  The 
letter  was  written  by  a  man  named  Howarth,  who 
resides  at  Abercorn,  P.  Q.,  in  the  county  of  Brome. 
Neither  Flynn  nor  myself  paid  much  attention  to  this 
letter,  as  we  did  not  understand  the  meaning  of  it. 
About  the  end  of  June,  the  same  man  showed  me  a 
second  letter,  which  he  had  received  from  Howarth, 


4O  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

also  requesting  him  to  send  a  man  on  the  next  morn- 
ing to  do  a  job  connected  with  the  liquor  business, 
and  he  asked  me  to  go,  as  there  was  good  money  in 
it — about  two  hundred  dollars  —  and  I  agreed  to  go 
over.  He  then  instructed  me  to  go  to  a  man  named 
Willard,  whom  Howarth  had  instructed  to  give  me 
the  money  to  pay  my  way,  or  give  me  a  ticket.  I 
went  to  Willard,  and  told  him  that  I  was  going  to 
Canada  to  do  a  job  for  some  parties  there ;  that 
Howarth  had  sent  for  me  to  call  on  him  for  the 
money  to  buy  the  ticket  to  go  there,  and  that  he 
would  repay  him.  Willard  gave  me  ten  dollars,  and 
I  bought  my  ticket,  and  came  on  to  Abercorn.  I 
started  towards  the  hotel  there,  when  Howarth  drove 
up,  recognized  me,  and  asked  me  to  get  into  his 
wagon.  He  drove  me  to  Jenne's  hotel,  and  there 
introduced  me  to  Mr.  Jenne  as  a  Mr.  Stewart.  While 
at  the  hotel,  Howarth  told  me  he  had  sent  for  me  to 
thrash  a  fellow  named  Smith,  who  lived  over  at  Sut- 
ton  Junction.  He  said  that  he  was  a  mean  cuss  who 
drank  all  his  life,  would  drink  whenever  he  got  the 
chance,  was  all  the  time  running  after  the  women 
and,  to  cover  up  his  deviltry,  he  goes  round  preach- 
ing temperance,  and  raising  the  devil  with  the  hotel 
keepers.  They  wanted  to  chase  him  away  and  get 
him  out  of  the  business.  Howarth  went  on  to  say 
that  Smith,  who  is  station  master  at  Sutton  Junction, 
was  so  mean  that  people  cannot  ship  goods  to  that 
station  without  their  being  opened,  looked  over  and 
their  contents  reported  to  the  temperance  people. 
They  had,  he  added,  reported  Smith  to  the  com- 


THE  AUTUMN  COURT.  41 

pany,  and  his  discharge  had  been  ordered.  I  asked 
Howarth  what  about  the  money  for  doing  this  job, 
and  he  answered,  "  Don't  fear ;  everything  is  fixed, 
and  you  will  be  well  taken  care  of."  In  the  after- 
noon, Howarth  took  me  to  Sutton,  and  we  called  at 
Curley's  hotel,  and  went  from  there  to  Lebeau's, 
where  he  introduced  me  to  a  man  named  Lebeau, 
who  owns  a  race  course,  as  a  Mr.  Stewart,  a  horse 
buyer  from  Boston.  I  then  rode  with  Mr.  Lebeau 
and  drove  his  horse,  staying  round  there  until  the 
evening,  when  I  went  back  to  Curley's  hotel,  and 
had  supper.  I  did  not  pay  for  it,  and  was  not  asked 
to  pay.  I  went  to  Sutton,  purchased  a  ticket  for 
Richford,  where  I  met  Howarth  in  the  afternoon  by 
agreement,  received  fifteen  dollars  from  him  and  had 
a  long  conversation  regarding  the  job  I  was  to  do, 
after  which  Howarth  went  back  to  Abercorn.  I, 
however,  remained  over  night  at  Richford,  and  next 
morning  took  the  train  for  Sutton.  I  then  went  to 
Mr.  Wilson's  hotel,  and  remained  there  for  two  or 
three  days.  They  asked  me  no  questions  in  regard 
to  my  board  bill,  they  did  not  seem  to  care  whether 
my  bills  were  paid  or  not,  and  they  were  never  paid 
by  me.  I  remained  there  until  the  horse  race  at 
Knowlton,  to  which  I  went  with  Mr.  Wilson,  and 
where  I  expected  to  meet  Howarth  with  a  team  for 
me  to  use,  but  I  did  not  find  Howarth  at  Knowlton. 
I  left  Knowlton  the  same  night,  and  rode  back  to 
Sutton,  to  Wilson's  hotel,  with  a  man  whom  I  met  at 
the  races.  A  day  or  two  following,  I  was  supplied 
with  the  team,  which  was  fed  and  cared  for  free  of 


42  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

charge  at  Curley's  and  Wilson's  hotels.  This  team 
was  supplied  me  for  the  purpose  of  driving  to  and 
from  the  Junction  in  order  to  meet  Smith.  The 
night  I  committed  the  assault  on  Mr.  Smith  my  team 
was  at  Curley's  hotel  until  9  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
when  I  ordered  it  to  be  harnessed.  I  then  started 
for  the  Junction,  and  on  the  way  I  met  a  man  a  short 
distance  out  of  the  village,  whose  name  I  do  not  re- 
member, but  I  would  probably  recognize  him  if  I 
saw  him  again.  I  was  supplied  with  a  disguise  of 
clothing,  which  was  put  into  my  buggy  when  the 
team  was  sent  to  me.  I  do  not  know  who  put  it 
there,  but  Howarth  gave  me  to  understand  that  it 
would  be  there. 

" '  Some  talk  transpired  between  myself  and  the 
parties  engaged  in  this  matter  as  to  what  weapon  I 
should  used  to  beat  Mr.  Smith,  when  it  was  sug- 
gested, I  think  by  Howarth,  that  a  piece  of  lead  pipe 
would  be  a  good  thing,  and  when  I  opened  the 
bundle,  I  found  a  lead  pipe  in  it.  I  saw  that  it  was 
a  piece  of  new  pipe,  and  I  battered  it  to  give  it  an 
old  appearance.  There  was  also  a  new  hat  in  the 
bundle.  When  this  man  got  into  my  buggy,  I  drove 
to  Sutton  Junction,  where  I  waited  for  Mr.  Smith. 
After  our  arrival  there,  and  until  I  had  committed 
the  assault  on  Mr.  Smith,  the  man  who  drove  with 
me  from  Sutton  kept  the  team  waiting  for  me  about 
one  hundred  rods  from  the  station.  I  saw  Mr. 
Smith  arrive  at  the  depot  about  10.30  P.  M.,  and 
after  putting  the  team  up,  he  went  into  the  station 
with  four  or  five  men.  I  watched  Mr.  Smith  until 


THE  AUTUMN  COURT.  43 

all  the  men  had  left,  the  last  two  going  north  on  an 
engine,  after  which  I  saw  Mr.  Smith  lie  down  on  a 
settee.  After  some  time  I  entered  the  room,  where 
he  was  lying,  and  struck  him  over  the  head  with  the 
pipe,  which  was  in  my  possession.  His  head  moved 
on  the  pillow,  and  when  he  started  to  rise,  I  struck 
him  again.  We  then  clinched,  and  had  quite  a 
severe  struggle  during  which  I  lost  my  hat  and  the 
lead  pipe.  I  then  freed  myself  from  Mr.  Smith,  and 
disappeared,  running  to  where  the  team  was  waiting 
for  me.  We  drove  direct  to  Sutton,  where  the  fel- 
low jumped  off,  and  I  kept  on  to  Richford,  where  I 
left  my  team  at  the  American  hotel,  telling  them 
that  it  would  be  called  for.  On  the  way  to  Richford 
after  having  committed  the  assault,  I  called  at 
Jenne's  hotel,  Howarth  having  told  me  that  on  my 
way  back  the  money  would  be  left  with  Jenne  to 
pay  me.  When  I  arrived  there  I  called  to  him,  and 
after  a  few  minutes  he  came,  and  I  asked  him  if 
there  was  some  money  there  for  me,  and  he  said, 
"Yes,"  and  at  the  same  time  he  went  back  and 
brought  out  fifty  dollars,  which  he  gave  me.  I  asked 
him  where  the  rest  of  the  money  was,  and  he  said: 
"Only  a  part  of  it  had  been  collected  ;  give  me  your 
address,  and  we  will  collect  it  and  send  you  a  money 
order."  This  money  order  I  have  never  received. 
At  Richford  I  hired  a  team  and  drove  to  what  I 
thought  was  about  half  way  to  St  Albans,  where  I 
stayed  all  day  Sunday,  and  took  the  night  express 
for  Boston.  The  bay  horse  and  open  buggy,  with 
yellow  running  gear,  were  furnished  me  by  Howarth 


44  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

a  few  days  previous  to  the  assault.  The  team  was 
engaged  by  Jenne  at  the  livery  stable  in  the  rear  of 
the  American  House,  Richford,  and  the  young  man 
who  drove  the  team  on  the  night  of  the  assault  was 
young  Jim  Wilson.  He  left  me  at  Sutton,  and  I  was 
instructed  to  leave  the  team  at  the  Richford  livery 
stable  above  mentioned,  which  I  did,  and  the  same 
livery  man  whom  I  asked  for  another  team  to  drive 
me  to  St.  Albans,  or  a  part  of  the  way,  hitched  up  a 
team  and  sent  a  man  with  me  whose  name  I  do  not 
know.  When  I  drove  up  to  his  place  that  Sunday 
morning,  I  awoke  him  and  said  that  I  had  brought 
back  his  horse  which  I  had  been  using  for  the  last 
few  days,  and  I  also  told  him  that  this  party  would 
settle  for  it,  and  he  replied,  "  All  right.'"" 

In  this  testimony  of  Kelly's  we  see  the  evidence 
of  a  preconcerted  plot  in  which  many  liquor  men, 
both  Canadian  and  American,  must  have  been  initi- 
ated. It  is  an  important  fact  also  that  the  man 
entrusted  with  the  execution  of  their  lawless  plans 
was  himself  a  bartender.  From  the  evil  account  of 
Mr.  Smith's  deeds,  which  Kelly  says  was  given  to 
him  on  his  arrival  in  Canada,  it  appears  that  the 
enemies  of  temperance  are  not  contented  with  taking 
the  property  of  their  fellow-men  as  they  often  do  in 
different  ways,  they  are  not  even  satisfied  with  inflict- 
ing bodily  injury  and  suffering  upon  those  who 


THE  AUTUMN  COURT.  45 

oppose  their  ways,  but  they  would  blight  their  repu- 
tation, and  this,  too,  is  no  small  injury,  for  in  the 
words  of  Shakespeare : 

44  Who  steals  my  purse,  steals  trash  ;  'tis  something,  nothing  ; 
'Twas  mine,  'tis  his,  and  has  been  slave  to  thousands ; 
But  he  that  filches  from  me  my  good  name, 
Robs  me  of  that  which  not  enriches  him, 
And  makes  me  poor  indeed." 

The  announcement  also  that  the  liquor  men  had 
reported  their  enemy  to  the  railway  company,  and 
that  his  discharge  had  been  ordered,  is  significant  in 
the  light  of  later  events.  The  complaint  made  by 
them  to  the  company  seems  from  the  above  to  have 
been  that  Mr.  Smith  was  examining  goods  shipped 
into  the  county  by  way  of  Sutton  Junction,  and  this, 
we  are  assured,  was  a  false  report.  However,  it 
seems  probable  that,  if  the  hotel  keepers  had  not 
been  receiving  illegal  goods  in  this  way,  they  would 
not  have  been  so  suspicious.  Another  account  of 
Kelly's  testimony  was  published  in  the  Montreal 
Daily  Star.  Omitting  those  parts  which  do  not 
differ  materially  from  the  report  in  The  Templar, 
this  report  is  as  follows : 

"The  reason  that  Kelly  did  not  get  his  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  for  half  murdering  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith, 
it  appears,  was  'that  he  did  not  half  finish  his  job  ; ' 


46  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

at  least  that  was  the  reason  given  in  another  letter 
of  Howarth  to  his  friend  Mr.  Flynn  in  the  United 
States,  who  showed  it  to  Kelly.  It  is  left  to  the 
imagination  as  to  what  the  result  would  have  been  if 
he  had  finished  the  job.  Kelly's  testimony  occupied 
all  the  afternoon,  and  he  stood  the  ordeal  extremely 
well.  Mr.  Racicot  tried  to  shake  him,  but  in  vain. 
He  told  his  story  in  a  straightforward  manner,  and 
it  showed  how  easy  it  is  even  in  our  present  civilized 
and  advanced  age  to  get  rid  of  or  punish  people 
without  running  personal  risk  of  bodily  injury  if  you 
go  the  right  way  about  it.  The  case  is  also  a  forci- 
ble reminder  of  the  truism  that  the  laborer  is  worthy 
of  his  hire,  and  that  things  done  on  the  cheap  are 

apt  to  turn  out  badly 

"  That  night  he  drove  in  the  vicinity  of  a  friend's 
home,  where  he  was  told  that  Smith  was  not  at 
home.  He  went  with  the  intention  of  seeing  Mr. 
Smith.  If  he  had  met  him  he  would  have  licked 
him  then  and  there.  He  always  stayed  at  the  Wil- 
son's, when  he  had  nothing  better  to  do,  and  they 
did  not  charge  him  anything.  He  was  convinced 
that  the  Wilsons,  though  they  did  not  say  so,  knew 
perfectly  well  what  he  was  doing.  Kelly  met  Smith 
once  at  the  Sutton  Junction  station  while  he  was  on 
the  train.  The  night  of  the  attempted  murder  he 
asked  Jim  Wilson  to  drive  him.  Wilson  must  have 
know  what  Kelly  was  going  to  do,  for  the  latter 
undressed  while  they  were  driving  together,  and  put 
on  the  disguise,  and  Jim  Wilson  must  have  seen  him 
put  the  lead  pipe  in  his  pocket.  Wilson  waited  for 


THE  AUTUMN  COURT.  47 

him  with  the  rig,  while  the  drama  in  Smith's  station- 
house  took  place.  Kelly  then  rehearsed  the  act  him- 
self, varying  but  little  in  the  story  from  the  version 
given  by  Mr.  Smith.  The  remainder  of  the  story 

was  soon   finished *     ;     .     . 

"  When  he  was  half  way  to  St.  Albans  he  sent  the 
Richford  team  home  and  hired  another  on  the  road. 
He  took  the  train  at  St.  Albans  to  Boston,  and  from 
there  returned  home  to  Marlboro.  He  met  How- 
arth  at  Marlboro  afterwards,  and  Howarth  said  that 
he  would  see  about  the  money.  He  then  spoke  to 
Howarth's  friend  Flynn  and  the  latter  wrote.  In 
reply  he  got  back  a  letter  from  Howarth,  in  which 
the  latter  said :  '  Kelly  did  not  half  do  his  job,  and 
all  the  others  are  kicking  at  me.'  At  any  rate,  Kelly 
did  not  get  his  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Mr. 
Racicot  then  took  him  in  hand  and  tried  very  hard 
to  tangle  him  up.  He  commenced  by  trying  to 
break  down  the  force  of  the  evidence  of  the  letters, 
which  Kelly  claims  Howarth  has  written,  and  which 
Kelly  claims  he  had  seen.  Of  course  he  had  to 
admit  that  he  could  not  swear  they  were  written  by 
Howarth.  Next,  his  efforts  were  directed  to  words 
trying  to  prove  by  Kelly's  testimony  that  the  assault 
was  not  a  murderous  one.  Partly  to  protect  himself, 
partly  because  he  believed  it  the  truth,  Kelly  then 
was  compelled  to  testify  that  he  was  not  asked  and 
had  not  undertaken  to  kill  Mr.  Smith.  He  never 
told  any  one  that  he  had,  and  did  not  intend  to  kill 
him  or  do  him  serious  injury.  The  murderous-look- 
ing gas  pipe  club  on  exhibition  on  the  Judge's  Bench 


48  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

gave  this  part  of  the  testimony  a  rather  sarcastic 
tinge.  In  continuing,  he  got  Kelly  to  say  he  did  not 
think  he  had  hurt  Smith  seriously,  but  simply  that 
he  had  fulfilled  his  contract.  It  came  out  that,  while 
living  in  Marlboro,  Kelly  was  a  barkeeper,  and  was 
seen  drinking  with  others  in  a  hotel.  There  is  ap- 
parently a  good  opportunity  for  missionary  service 
of  the  sort  Mr.  Smith  delights  in  in  Vermont.  He 
was  asked  to  go  into  lengthy  details  as  to  how  he 
was  arrested,  brought  from  the  States  by  Mr.  Car- 
penter and  treated  while  in  his  custody,  and  said 
that  he  expected  to  take  his  chances  on  being  sent 
to  jail  or  penitentiary.  When  his  testimony  was 
finished  a  wrangle  took  place  between  opposing 
counsel  as  to  whether  or  not  prisoners  should  be 
admitted  to  bail.  Mr.  Duffy  opposed  in  so  far  as 
Howarth  was  concerned,  because  he  was  an  Ameri- 
can, and  because  once  at  liberty  he  would  approach 
the  other  conspirators  and  frustrate  the  ends  of  jus- 
tice. Finally  Howarth  was  remanded  till  Wednes- 
day. Jenne  was  allowed  out  on  nominal  bail,  and 
Kelly  remanded  to  the  custody  of  Mr.  Carpenter. 
Some  more  arrests  and  some  more  verbal  and  very 
interesting  documentary  evidence  is  promised  for 
Wednesday." 

The  statement  of  Kelly  that  he  did  not  intend  to 
kill  Mr.  Smith,  and  was  not  asked  to  do  so,  has  a 
decided  look  of  absurdity  when  viewed  in  the  light 
of  the  various  circumstances  surrounding  the  assault. 


WALTER  K.  KELLY,  MARLBORO,  MASS. 


THE  AUTUMN  COURT.  49 

If  he  simply  intended  to  "lick"  Mr.  Smith,  why  did 
he  attempt  it  in  such  an  unfair  and  cowardly  way? 
Why  did  he,  when  the  object  of  his  assault  was 
asleep,  attack  him  with  a  weapon  which  might  cause 
death?  And  why,  having  such  an  advantage  over 
his  victim,  did  he  begin  at  once  to  pound  his  head? 
This  is  a  very  dangerous  way  to  administer  a  whip- 
ping !  Moreover,  if  the  hotel  keepers  of  the  vicinity 
only  wished  to  have  Mr.  Smith  pounded,  it  seems 
strange  that  not  one  of  their  number  was  willing  to 
undertake  the  task  himself.  Or,  if  not,  why  did 
they  not  hire  some  ruffian  who  could  be  induced  to 
give  almost  any  man  a  pounding  for  a  smaller  sum 
of  money  than  that  promised  to  Walter  Kelly,  and, 
besides,  might  have  supplied  his  own  necessary  out- 
fit, and  save  them  the  trouble  and  expense  of  pro- 
viding board,  team,  weapon  and  disguise  of  clothing. 
Again,  the  liquor  men  should  have  known  that 
such  a  course  would  not  be  likely  to  help  them  very 
much,  for  any  man  who  is  sincerely  in  earnest  and 
seeks  the  prosperity  of  a  good  cause,  will  not  be 
likely  to  stop  his  work  because  of  a  slight  pounding. 
There  are  many  things  in  this  world  not  easy  to 
understand  or  explain,  and  this  affair  seems  to  be 
one  of  them,  but,  of  course,  it  is  a  lawyer's  busi- 
ness to  work  for  the  interests  of  his  clients,  and 


5<D  THE   STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

prisoners  usually  consider  it  their  privilege,  when  in 
the  witness  box,  to  work  for  their  own  safety. 

The  testimony  of  Mr.  Smith,  which  had  been 
begun  on  Friday,  and  had  given  place  to  Kelly's 
evidence  when  he  arrived  from  Montreal,  was  re- 
sumed on  Wednesday,  Sept.  5th,  when  the  case  was 
again  considered  in  court.  The  following  report  of 
Wednesday's  proceedings  was  published  in  the  Mon- 
treal Daily  Witness  : 

"The  preliminary  enquiry  into  the  Sutton  Junc- 
tion attempted  murder  case  was  resumed  this  morn- 
ing before  Messrs.  C.  H.  Boright  and  G.  F.  Shufelt, 
J.  P.'s.  The  court  room  was  crowded,  and  much  in- 
terest was  evinced  in  the  progress  of  the  case.  Mr. 
W.  W.  Smith,  continuing  his  evidence,  described  his 
struggle  with  Kelly.  The  first  blow  rendered  him 
partially  unconscious,  and  apparently  was  not  re- 
peated for  two  or  three  minutes.  A  second  and 
third  blow  was  given  with  the  lead  pipe,  but,  owing 
to  his  having  clinched  with  Kelly,  they  did  not  have 
the  effect  of  the  first.  During  the  struggle,  both 
men  got  out  on  the  station  platform,  and  eventually 
rolled  from  the  upper  to  the  lower  one,  Smith  all  the 
time  calling  out  'murder,'  and  Kelly  breaking  loose 
ran  away.  He  was  positive  that  it  was  Kelly's 
intention  to  kill  him,  not  merely  to  give  him  a  beating. 

"  He  recognized  the  lead  pipe  as  the  weapon 
Kelly  used,  and  also  the  hat  was  the  one  he  left 
behind  in  the  station. 


THE  AUTUMN  COURT.  51 

"He  went  to  Marlboro  on  August  25th,  and  iden- 
tified Kelly,  whom  he  saw  drinking  with  three  other 
men  at  the  bar  of  the  Central  House. 

"He  travelled  from  Fitchburg  to  Montreal  with 
Mr.  Carpenter,  and  was  present  in  the  former's  of- 
fice, when  Kelly  acknowledged  to  having  committed 
the  assault. 

"Two  other  witnesses  testified  to  having  seen 
Howarth  and  Kelly  together  at  Sutton,  on  May 
24th,  where  it  was  given  out  that  the  latter  was  from 
the  United  States,  and  was  buying  horses.  It  was 
also  in  evidence  that  Kelly  was  seen  at  Curley's 
hotel,  Sutton,  on  the  evening  that  the  assault  was 
committed." 

After  these  witnesses  were  heard,  the  case  was  put 
over  until  Spring,  to  be  considered  and  decided  by  the 
Court  of  Queen's  Bench,  which  was  to  be  held  at 
Sweetsburg,  in  March,  1895.  Kelly,  Howarth  and 
Jenne  were  committed  for  trial  at  that  time.  Jenne 
was  released  on  bail,  and  application  was  made  for 
bail  to  be  granted  for  Howarth  also.  This  was  re- 
fused by  the  magistrates,  and  Mr.  Racicot  then  ap- 
plied to  the  Judge,  being  opposed  in  his  application 
by  Mr.  Duffy,  the  lawyer  for  the  Alliance. 

Judge  Lynch  carefully  considered  the  matter  in  its 
social  and  legal  aspects. 

He  brought  up  several  cases  in  the  history  of  the 
country  in  which  application  for  bail  had  been  re- 


52  THE  STORY  OP  A  DARK  PLOT. 

fused,  recited  the  general  principles  which  had  gov- 
erned the  various  judges  in  making  these  decisions, 
and  concluded  his  remarks  thus : 

"  It  only  remains  for  me  now  to  apply  these  gen- 
eral principles,  which  have  received  the  sanction  of 
our  highest  courts,  to  the  present  case,  and  cannot 
better  do  so  than  by  asking  myself  the  questions 
which  were  submitted  by  Judge  Power,  as  being  the 
basis  of  his  conclusions  in  the  Maguire  case. 

"What  is  the  nature  of  the  crime  charged  against 
Howarth?  Is  it  grave  or  trifling?  It  certainly  is  not 
trifling,  it  is  one  of  the  most  serious  known  to  our 
law,  being  nothing  less  than  an  accusation  of  an  at- 
tempt to  commit  murder.  2d.  What  is  the  nature 
of  the  evidence  offered  by  the  prosecution,  and  the 
probability  of  a  conviction?  I  prefer  not  to  dis- 
cuss or  consider  now  the  strength  of  the  evidence 
which  was  adduced  before  the  magistrates,  to  which 
alone  I  can  look.  It  apparently  presents  a  strong 
case,  and  if  it  is  believed  by  the  jury,  and  not  rebutted 
by  other  evidence,  it  would,  in  all  human  probability, 
lead  to  a  conviction.  3d.  Is  he  liable  to  a  severe  pun- 
ishment? Yes  —  to  imprisonment  for  life.  In  face, 
therefore,  of  the  answers  which  I  am  obliged  to  give 
to  the  foregoing  questions,  I  cannot  hesitate  as  to 
my  duty  in  this  matter.  It  is  important  in  the  pub- 
lic interest  that  Howarth  should  be  present  in  court, 
and  stand  his  trial  on  the  charge  preferred  against 
him,  and  nothing  can  or  should  be  allowed  to  inter- 
fere to  prevent  this  from  taking  place. 


THE  AUTUMN  COURT.  53 

"  It  might  possibly  be  otherwise  were  bail  allowed, 
and  I  cannot  take  the  responsibility  of  such  an 
occurrence.  The  application  is  refused." 

From  these  words  of  Judge  Lynch  we  see  clearly 
how  very  serious  a  matter  this  assault  case  must  have 
seemed  to  him  at  that  time.  After  this  decision 
Kelly  was  again  placed  in  custody  of  Mr.  Carpenter, 
and  returned  to  Montreal,  where  he  was  kept  in  prison, 
while  Howarth  passed  the  winter  in  Sweetsburg  jail. 

Meantime,  some  of  the  members  of  the  liquor 
party  took  advantage  of  the  excitement  which  this 
assault  had  caused  by  trying  to  frighten  other  tem- 
perance people.  One  man,  Allen  C.  Armstrong, 
living  in  the  neighborhood  of  Sutton  Junction,  who 
had  been  an  aid  in  the  work  of  locating  Kelly,  awoke 
one  morning  to  find  upon  his  doorsteps  a  miniature 
coffin,  which  bore  an  ominous  inscription,  giv- 
ing his  name  and  the  record  of  his  death  (without 
date),  and  calling  him  a  "Sutton  Junction  detective." 
Also,  anonymous  letters  were  reported  to  have  been 
received  by  two  men  in  the  same  vicinity,  viz. :  N.  P. 
Emerson,  Vice-President  of  the  Alliance  for  the 
township  of  Sutton,  and  J.  C.  Draper,  President  of 
Brome  County  Agricultural  Society,  who  was  also  a 
member  of  the  Alliance,  bidding  them  beware  lest 
they  also  suffer  in  the  same  manner  as  Mr.  Smith. 


54  THE  STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

It  may  have  afforded  a  degree  of  satisfaction  to  a 
certain  class  of  people  to  thus  add  fuel  to  the  fire 
already  kindled  by  the  liquor  men,  but  their  cause 
will  certainly  never  triumph  through  any  such  acts  as 
these,  for  there  will  always  be  some  in  the  ranks  of 
the  temperance  party  who  will  be  willing  to  work  the 
harder  the  fiercer  roll  the  flames  of  opposition. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PROS   AND   CONS    OF   PUBLIC    OPINION. 

As  may  be  supposed  this  assault  case  became  the 
subject  of  a  great  deal  of  discussion  and  controversy, 
not  only  in  the  vicinity  of  its  occurrence,  but  also  in 
places  far  distant,  and  among  people  who  had  no 
personal  knowledge  of  any  of  the  parties  especially 
concerned  in  it.  If  the  assault  upon  Mr.  Smith  had 
been  committed  for  almost  any  other  reason  than  the 
one  which  really  led  to  it,  it  would  probably  have 
caused  less  intense  feeling  than  it  did.  But  an  as- 
sault of  such  a  serious  nature,  made  on  account  of  a 
man's  temperance  principles  and  practices,  appealed 
to  the  public  sense  of  right,  and  seemed  the  signal 
for  a  war  of  pens  and  tongues  between  the  opposing 
parties  of  temperance  and  inebriety.  Very  few  of 
the  latter  party  proved  brave  enough  to  have  their 
opinions  submitted  to  the  press  (or  else  the  press 
would  not  accept  them),  but  doubtless  those  opin- 
ions were  freely  expressed  in  private. 

We  purpose  devoting  this  chapter  to  a  few  of  the 
views  of  societies  and  individuals  respecting  this  affair, 


56  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

as  they  were  published  in  the  columns  of  certain 
newspapers.  The  following  from  The  Templar  shows 
the  feeling  of  the  Alliance  in  a  border  county  to  that 
in  which  the  deed  was  committed,  as  expressed  just 
before  the  opening  of  court: 

"The  Missisquoi  County  Alliance,  at  a  meeting 
held  August  28th,  passed  the  following  resolution, 
which  was  unanimously  adopted  amid  applause : 
'Resolved,  That  this  County  Alliance  now  assembled 
desires  to  record  its  deepest  sympathy  with  Mr.  W. 
W.  Smith,  President  of  the  Brome  County  Alliance, 
in  the  recent  outrage  perpetrated  upon  him  by  the 
emissaries  of  the  liquor  traffic.  We  rejoice  to  know 
that  there  is  a  prospect  of  the  speedy  bringing  to 
justice  of  the  perpetrators  of  that  assault.  We  also 
desire  to  record  our  high  appreciation  of  the  valued 
services  to  the  cause  of  prohibition  in  this  section  by 
Mr.  Smith,  and  trust  that  he  may  long  be  spared  to 
continue  his  heroic  efforts  to  free  our  country  from 
the  ravages  of  strong  drink.'  " 

The  following  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  exec- 
utive of  the  Quebec  provincial  branch  of  the  Domin- 
ion Alliance,  at  a  meeting  held  in  the  parlors  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  in  Montreal: 

"That  this  Alliance  records  its  profound  sympa- 
thy with  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith,  President  of  the  Brome 
County  Alliance,  in  the  recent  murderous  assault 


PROS  AND    CONS   OF  PUBLIC   OPINION.  57 

made  upon  him,  resulting  from  his  earnest  and  suc- 
cessful efforts  in  the  cause  of  law  and  order  in  the 
County  of  Brome,  and  this  Alliance  trusts  that  full 
justice  will  be  meted  out  to  the  perpetrators  of  this 
atrocious  crime." 


The  letter  given  below  appeared  in  The  Knowlton 
News  of  Oct.  1 2th,  1894,  under  the  heading  "A  Few 
Words  on  the  Other  Side:" 

"To  the  Editor  of  The  News : 

"  SIR, — In  the  discussion  of  a  case  which  has  and 
is  now  agitating  this  good  County  of  Brome,  that 
spirit  of  British  fair  play  which  has  attained  to  the 
dignity  of  a  proverb  has  been  lost  sight  of  to  a 
marked  degree.  I  refer  to  the  alleged  assault  on 
Mr.  W.  W.  Smith,  at  Sutton  Junction,  in  July  last. 
The  Dominion  Temperance  Alliance  and  its  friends 
are  doing  their  best,  by  means  of  the  press  and  oth- 
erwise, to  poison  the  public  mind  in  advance  of  the 
trial  against  the  party  who  is  charged  with  procuring 
the  assault  on  Mr.  Smith,  and  also  against  divers 
other  persons  in  the  county  who  are  said  to  be  his 
accessories,  charging  them  with  the  commission  of  a 
grave  crime  without  a  scintilla  of  reputable  evidence 
on  which  to  base  such  a  charge.  This,  I  say,  is  not 
fair  play,  and  those  guilty  of  the  unfairness  need  not 
find  fault  if  lovers  of  justice  refuse  to  follow  them  in 
their  raid  on  men  and  characters,  or  by  silence  lend 
strength  to  the  unwarranted  assumption  that  each 


58  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

and  every  one  of  those  so  flippantly  accused  are 
guilty  from  the  word  '  go,'  and  must  be  pilloried  in 
public  and  private,  and  subjected  to  the  shame  and 
embarrassment  arising  from  these  attacks  on  their 
character,  as  law-abiding  citizens  and  legal  subjects 
of  Her  Majesty. 

"There  is  a  limit  beyond  which  self-constituted 
conservers  of  public  morals  must  not  go ;  and  good 
men  should  not  be  brutally  attacked  in  public  by 
agents  of  the  Alliance  on  the  strength  of  the  admis- 
sions of  a  fellow,  who,  if  he  tells  the  truth,  is  one  of 
the  meanest  rascals  that  ever  cumbered  the  earth.  I 
refer  to  the  fellow  Kelly,  Mr.  Smith's  self-confessed 
assailant. 

"I  offer  nothing  in  defence  of  lawbreakers,  nor 
would  I,  if  I  could,  do  aught  to  mitigate  in  the  least 
degree  the  punishment  that  may  be  meted  out  to  the 
person  who  wantonly  assaults  a  peaceable  citizen, 
but  candor  and  strict  impartiality  force  me  to  refuse 
to  accept  as  truth  all  the  rubbish  of  tergiversation 
with  which  this  agitated  Smith  case  has  been  sur- 
rounded by  the  intemperate  zeal  of  professed  tem- 
perance men.  I  believe  in  temperance,  and  if  those 
who  knowingly  violate  the  law  against  the  sale  of 
intoxicants  are  brought  to  judgment  and  punish- 
ment, they  get  but  what  they  deserve,  and  all  good 
men  will  applaud  the  vindication  of  the  majesty  of 
the  law.  But  we  are  scripturally  enjoined  to  be 
'temperate  in  all  things.'  This  applies  as  well  to 
words  as  to  the  use  of  stimulants,  and  the  grossly 
unfair  attacks  on  men's  characters  by  certain  of  the 


PROS  AND   CONS   OF  PUBLIC  OPINION.  59 

Alliance  emphasize  the  necessity  for  a  strong  curb 
on  that  unruly  member,  the  tongue,  which  has 
brought  many  a  good  man  and  worthy  cause  into 
grave  disrepute,  and  made  them  enemies  where 
otherwise  they  might  have  had  friends. 

"This  whole  Smith  business  has  a  'cheap  John' 
flavor,  which  makes  careful  men  view  it  askance. 
Who  witnessed  the  assault  on  Smith  ?  Nobody.  He 
tells  of  being  struck  three  times  on  the  head  with  a 
piece  of  lead  pipe,  weighing  some  four  pounds,  and 
has  in  evidence  the  terrible  weapon.  Did  his  person 
bear  evidence  of  the  murderous  assault?  No.  All 
who  saw  him  in  the  early  morning  following  the 
alleged  assault  were  surprised  that  he  bore  no  marks 
of  the  terrible  struggle  for  life  through  which  he 
claimed  to  have  passed.  Why,  one  blow  from  such 
a  weapon  as  he  exhibits  would  have  crushed  his  head 
as  if  it  were  an  egg  shell,  yet  he  claims  to  have  sus- 
tained three  blows,  and  is  alive  to  tell  of  it !  Shades 
of  Ananias  and  of  Munchausen  ! 

"But  it  were  useless  to  pursue  the  subject 
further. 

"  It  is  to  that  spirit  of  fair  play  so  characteristi- 
cally British,  and  to  which  we  are  proud  heirs,  that  I 
would  appeal.  Everything  is  being  said  and  done  to 
prejudice  the  public  against  those  who  are  accused 
of  instigating  Kelly  to  the  assault  on  Smith ;  but, 
singular  as  it  may  seem,  Kelly  is  patted  on  the  back 
and  called  a  good  fellow.  Why?  Admitting  the 
truth  of  Kelly's  story,  is  he  less  guilty  because  he 
had  confederates?  A  strange  feature  of  the  case  is 


6O  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

that  Kelly  willingly  came  back  to  Canada,  when 
extradition  would  have  been  about  impossible. 

"  He  was  taken  to  Montreal  instead  of  to  Sweets- 
burg,  and  was  there  royally  entertained  instead  of 
being  put  in  close  jail.  While  in  Montreal  he  was 
interviewed, — and  by  whom? — the  Crown  prose- 
cutor? No;  but  by  Smith  and  his  counsel,  Mr. 
Duffy.  Meantime,  several  so-called  'detectives' 
were  scouring  the  country  for  evidence.  Of  what? 
They  had  Smith's  assailant,  and  he  had  told  his 
story.  Those  whom  he  charged  as  being  instigators 
of  his  crime  were  attending  to  their  business,  and 
might  have  been  apprehended  within  twenty-four 
hours  after  Kelly's  arrest  in  the  States.  Then  what 
were  the  detectives  seeking?  — what  were  they  after? 
That  $1000  reward  was  in  sight,  and  this  may  have 
been  the  inducing  cause  of  this  prowling. 

"  It  would  seem  to  '  A  man  up  a  tree '  that  there 
are  certain  revenges  to  be  completed — sundry  old 
grudges  to  be  satisfied,  and  the  Crown  is  asked  to 
assist  in  this  questionable  work.  Those  familiar  with 
the  matter  say  that  in  our  broad  Dominion  there  are 
no  better  conducted  hotels  than  those  to  be  found  in 
the  Eastern  townships.  They  are  well  kept,  and  the 
travelling  public  is  most  hospitably  entertained,  well 
fed  and  comfortably  lodged.  A  well-conducted  hotel 
adds  to  the  strength  and  business  character  of  a  vil- 
lage, and  a  faithful  landlord  is  expected  to  furnish 
guests  certain  necessities,  one  of  which  may  be  liquor. 

"  And  because  he  does  this  should  he  be  reviled, 
and  persecuted,  and  driven  out  of  business?  That 


PROS  AND   CONS  OF  PUBLIC  OPINION.  6 1 

liquor  is  a  great  evil,  no  one  can  honestly  deny,  and 
being  such,  and  being  beyond  the  power  of  man  to 
destroy,  let  us  do  the  next  best  thing — curb  and 
control  the  evil  in  the  best  manner  possible. 

"  A  dozen  wrongs  will  never  make  a  single  right, 
and  the  wrongs  that  are  being  committed  in  this 
Smith  case  have  appealed  to  one  who  believes  in 

"  Brome,  Oct.  8th,  '94.  FAIR  PLAY." 

The  following  comments  appeared  in  an  editorial 
in  the  same  paper : 

"  It  is  impossible  to  shut  one's  eyes  to  the  ill-feel- 
ing that  is  growing  throughout  the  County  of  Brome, 
and  spreading  itself  over  the  district,  as  a  result  of 
what  is  known  as  the  Smith  assault  case.  Hitherto, 
only  one  side  of  the  case  has  found  an  echo  in  the 
public  press,  but  to-day  we  open  our  columns  to  a 
correspondent  who  expresses  in  moderate  language 
the  sentiments  of  those  who  think  there  is  something 
to  be  said  on  the  other  side.  We  commend  his  let- 
ter to  the  attention  of  our  readers  without  in  any 
sense  committing  ourselves  to  the  writer's  conclu- 
sions. Everybody  must  feel  sorry  for  the  misfor- 
tunes of  Mr.  Smith,  and  if,  as  it  is  alleged  by  some, 
he  has  allowed  his  zeal  to  get  the  better  of  his  dis- 
cretion, he  is  not  the  first  man  who  has  been  carried 
away  by  a  superabundance  of  enthusiasm,  or  who 
has  suffered  therefor.  Mr.  Smith's  friends  will  try 
to  make  a  martyr  of  him.  We  doubt  that  they  will 
succeed." 


62  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

If,  as  the  Editor  of  The  News  seems  to  consider, 
"the  sentiments  of  those  who  think  there  is  some- 
thing to  be  said  on  the  other  side  "  are  expressed  in 
the  above  letter  in  "  moderate  language,"  how  must 
those  views  sound  when  expressed  in  the  most  forci- 
ble terms  of  angry  barroom  parlance?  Let  us  thank 
God  that  we  are  not  compelled  to  hear  these  opin- 
ions when  thus  declared,  nor  even  to  see  them  made 
known  through  the  press. 

It  is  said  in  the  above  note  that  Mr.  Smith's  friends 
would  try  to  make  a  martyr  of  him,  but  it  was  doubt- 
ful if  they  would  succeed.  We  think  the  Editor  of 
The  News  is  mistaken  in  this,  it  was  Mr.  Smith's  ene- 
mies who  appeared  desirous  of  making  a  martyr  of 
him,  and  they  very  nearly  succeeded;  but,  through 
the  providence  of  God,  he  is  still  in  the  ranks  of  tem- 
perance workers.  We  are  told  that  "one  with  God, 
is  a  majority,"  and  more  than  one  in  Brome  County 
are  true  to  the  right,  therefore,  the  liquor  party  with 
all  their  efforts  are  still  in  the  minority  there.  In 
the  next  issue  of  The  News,  dated  Oct.  ipth,  appeared 
the  following  replies  to  the  above  epistle  from  "  the 
other  side :  " 

"To  the  Editor  of  The  Knowlton  News  : 

"SlR, — In  regard  to  the  communication  in  your 


PROS  AND   CONS   OF  PUBLIC  OPINION.  63 

issue  of    October   I2th,  over  the  signature  of    Fair 
Play,  your  correspondent  says  : 

"  'This  whole  Smith  business  has  a  "cheap  John" 
flavor,  which  makes  careful  men  view  it  askance. 
Who  witnessed  the  assault  on  Smith?  Nobody. 
Did  his  person  bear  evidence  of  murderous  assault? 
No.  All  who  saw  him  in  the  early  morning  follow- 
ing the  alleged  assault  were  surprised  that  he  bore 
no  marks  of  the  terrible  struggle  for  life  through 
which  he  claims  to  have  passed.  Shades  of  Ananias 
and  Munchausen!' 

"  Mr.  Editor,  here  we  have  the  substance  calling 
upon  the  shadows.  As  one  who  visited  Mr.  Smith 
on  the  morning  following  the  assault,  I  assert  that 
Fair  Play  makes  a  direct  departure  from  the  truth. 
I  challenge  Fair  Play  to  give  the  name  of  a  single 
reputable  individual  who  now  will  corroborate  his 
assertion.  Such  a  statement  is  in  direct  contradic- 
tion to  the  sworn  testimony  of  our  respected  fellow- 
citizen,  R.  T.  Macdonald,  M.  D.  Mr.  Smith  was 
visited  on  the  following  morning  by  scores  of  people, 
and  they  saw  upon  his  person  the  evidence  of  a  vio- 
lent and  brutal  assault.  Many  of  the  visitors  ex- 
pressed their  determination  to  see  fair  play,  and  their 
willingness  to  subscribe,  which  they  subsequently 
did,  to  a  fund  to  bring  the  guilty  party  or  parties  to 
justice.  Fair  Play  need  not  worry  about  the  slan- 
dered characters  of  the  hotel  keepers  of  this  county. 
Their  characters  are  in  their  own  keeping,  just  as  the 
characters  of  merchants,  mechanics  and  ministers  are 


64  THE   STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

in  theirs.  If  the  parties  who  are  accused  of  com- 
plicity in  this  affair  are  innocent,  they  will  have  the 
opportunity  of  proving  themselves  so. 

"And  why  should  not  your  correspondent  exercise 
that  spirit  of  fair  play,  the  lack  of  which  he  so  much 
deplores  in  others,  and  not  make  the  useless  attempt 
to  impeach  Mr.  Smith's  veracity  in  the  case  of  this 
assault.  Such  an  attempt  is  both  useless  and  sense- 
less, for  within  an  hour  or  two  of  the  assault  he  was 
under  the  professional  care  of  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent and  reputable  physicians  of  the  Province,  who 
surely  would  at  once  have  exposed  any  impos- 
ture. 

"  Even  Fair  Play  would  be  willing  to  see  an  as- 
saulter punished,  but  seems  to  have  made  a  discovery 
which,  singular  to  say,  in  nearly  three  months  of  in- 
tervening time  no  one  has  yet  thought  of,  namely, 
that  no  assault  was  committed. 

"  The  cheap  John  part  of  this  affair  is  in  Fair  Play's 
letter,  in  which  in  one  breath  he  professes  to  be  a 
temperance  man,  and  says  a  hotel  keeper  who  vio- 
lates the  law  and  gets  punished  gets  just  what  he 
deserves,  and  in  the  next  breath  tells  us  that  liquor 
is  a  necessity,  and  asks  why  trouble  the  man  who 
furnishes  it.  Surely,  we  see  the  hem  of  the  cloak  of 
hypocrisy.  Fair  Play  should  also  give  the  public  his 
name,  so  that  people  may  judge  for  themselves  the 
value  of  his  peculiar  and  disinterested  view  of  fair 
play ;  farther,  some  folks  are  already  conjecturing 
who  the  author  was,  and  it  is  not  fair  to  let  any  one 
be  under  the  imputation  of  a  thing  he  did  not  do, 


PROS  AND  CONS  OF  PUBLIC  OPINION.  65 

and  surely  no  man  need  be  afraid  or  ashamed  to 
have  his  own  views  appear  over  his  own  name.  He 
asks,  Who  saw  the  assault?  and  answers,  Nobody. 
Who  saw  Hooper  try  to  drown  his  wife?  Nobody. 
And  yet  one  of  these  so-called  detectives  was  instru- 
mental in  landing  him  in  prison,  and  people  seem  to 
think  that  he  did  get  fair  play. 

"Fair  Play  says  careful  men  view  this  askance.  In 
this  town,  where  naturally  the  keenest  interest  is 
taken  in  this  affair,  nearly  or  quite  all  of  the  repre- 
sentative men  have  condemned  the  assault  in  the 
most  decisive  manner. 

"Now,  Mr.  Editor,  let  me  say  that  among  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  of  this  vicinity,  there  is  no 
desire  to  make  out  that  Mr.  Smith  is  either  a  hero  or 
a  martyr.  It  is  a  question  of  law  and  order  on  the 
one  hand,  and  crime  and  violence  on  the  other.  The 
assault  is  admitted,  and  a  conspiracy  is  alleged.  No 
doubt  there  are  landlords  in  this  country  who  would 
not  implicate  themselves  in  any  illegal  proceedings 
against  Mr.  Smith  nor  sympathize  with  the  same. 
Such  men  are  suffering  nothing,  but  it  is  doubtful  if 
there  is  a  person  of  ordinary  capacity  in  this  vicinity 
who  does  not  believe  that  the  assault  was  the  out- 
come of  a  conspiracy,  and  men  are  not  slow  in  ex- 
pressing the  wish  that  if  we  have  such  people  living 
among  us  that  they  may  be  exposed  in  their  true 
character  and  punished,  whether  they  profess  to  be 
saints  or  sinners,  and  the  people  of  this  town  would 
extend  the  same  sympathy  and  offer  the  same  assist- 
ance to  the  accused  parties,  if  they  had  been  the 


66  THE  STORY   OP  A  DARK  PLOT. 

victims  of  an  assault  and  suspicion  pointed  to  Smith 
and  the  Alliance  as  its  instigators. 

"MERIT   LONGEWAY. 

"Sutton,  October  i sth,  1894." 

"To  the  Editor  of  The  News : 

"SIR, — Permit  me  to  reply  to  some  of  the  state- 
ments of  'Fair  Play'  in  your  paper  of  October  I2th. 
First,  I  should  like  to  ask  what  is  meant  by  poison- 
ing the  public  mind? 

"If  Fair  Play  means  enlisting  the  sympathies  of 
the  public  on  the  side  of  the  temperance  party,  all 
that  is  needed  is  a  clear  statement  of  the  plain,  un- 
varnished facts.  There  need  be  no  '  unwarranted 
assumption,'  or  charges  without  evidence,  for  mem- 
bers of  the  liquor  party  before  that  assault  at  Sutton 
Junction,  and  more  especially  since  that  time,  have 
themselves  acted  in  a  way  that  has  estranged  some 
who  have  been  their  warm  supporters,  as  they  have 
procured  the  discharge  of  Mr.  Smith  from  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company, 
whom  he  had  served  faithfully  for  fifteen  years,  and 
have  also  threatened  the  lives  of  other  peaceable  citi- 
zens, because  they  chanced  to  frown  upon  violence 
and  lawbreaking. 

"Furthermore,  Fair  Play  declares  that  the  Temper- 
ance Alliance  and  its  friends,  of  which  he  plainly  is 
not  one,  are  charging  divers  persons  in  this  county 
with  the  commission  of  a  grave  crime  of  which  they 
have  no  reputable  evidence.  Thus  does  this  very 
brave  apostle  of  '  the  other  side '  fearlessly  assert, 


PROS  AND   CONS  OF  PUBLIC  OPINION.  6/ 

with  no  proof  for  his  statement,  that  all  the  various 
persons  who  have  given  evidence  in  this  case  in  Mr. 
Smith's  favor  are  disreputable,  and  their  testimony 
of  no  value.  Truly  this  is  a  bold  statement,  and  it 
would  seem  that  sometimes  pens  as  well  as  tongues 
need  '  curbing.'  Although  Fair  Play  declares  that 
he  '  offers  nothing  in  the  defence  of  lawbreakers,'  yet 
his  entire  epistle  is  plainly  in  defence  of  just  that 
class  of  people,  for  it  is  written  in  behalf  of  the  hotel 
keepers  who  have  repeatedly  broken  the  law,  and 
were  convicted  of  liquor  selling  in  court,  not  long 
since. 

"  Again,  this  '  believer  in  fair  play,'  in  speaking  of 
Mr.  Smith,  says : 

"  '  Did  his  person  bear  evidence  of  murderous  as- 
sault? No,  etc.'  Either  the  writer  of  these  words 
has  very  little  regard  for  truth,  or  else  he  knows  very 
little  of  the  subject  he  is  talking  about.  What  is  he 
going  to  do  with  the  evidence  of  the  skillful  physi- 
cian who  attended  Mr.  Smith,  and  who  upon  his  first 
visit  dared  not  promise  that  he  would  ever  recover? 
What  is  the  opinion  of  those  people  who  were  awak- 
ened at  dead  of  night  by  cries  of  murder,  and  who 
found  Mr.  Smith  with  the  marks  of  the  combat 
freshly  upon  him?  Why  is  it  that  he  has  not  yet 
fully  recovered  from  the  effects  of  this  assault?  And 
what  reason  has  Fair  Play  for  doubting  the  testimony 
of  Mr.  Smith  himself,  even  if  there  were  no  other 
proof?  He  says,  'One  blow  from  such  a  weapon  as 
he  exhibits  would  have  crushed  his  head,  as  if  it  were 
an  egg  shell.'  Perhaps  he  has  forgotten  that  circum- 


68  THE   STORY   OF  A   DARK  PLOT, 

stances  alter  cases,  and  the  position  of  the  victim,  the 
courage  of  the  assailant,  and  the  direction  of  the 
blow  might  alter  this  case  very  much.  It  is  little 
wonder  that  at  this  point  he  invokes  the  aid  of  the 
shades  of  Ananias  and  of  Munchausen !  He  next 
states  that  while  the  public  are  being  prejudiced 
against  the  liquor  sellers  of  this  county,  'Kelly  is 
patted  on  the  back,  and  called  a  good  fellow.'  Would 
Fair  Play  wish  to  be  patted  in  the  same  way,  being 
retained  in  a  prison  cell,  knowing  not  what  punish- 
ment may  await  him  ? 

"  We  would  repeat  the  question  asked, '  What  were 
the  detectives  seeking?'  But  we  do  not  conclude, 
like  Fair  Play,  that  it  was  the  $1000  reward  they  were 
working  for,  as  no  such  reward  was  ever  offered. 
The  objects  for  which  these  detectives  were  really 
seeking  were  those  men  whom  Kelly  had  accused, 
who,  according  to  Fair  Play,  'were  attending  to  their 
business,'  and  perhaps  they  were,  but  if  so,  they  must 
have  had  much  business  abroad.  He  next  enlarges 
upon  the  merits  of  Eastern  township  hotels,  and 
among  other  things  says  '  A  faithful  landlord  is  ex- 
pected to  furnish  guests  certain  necessities,  one  of 
which  may  be  liquor.  And  because  he  does  this, 
should  he  be  reviled,  and  prosecuted,  and  driven  out 
of  his  business?'  How  does  this  compare  with  his 
former  statement  that  he  '  offers  nothing  in  defence 
of  lawbreakers,'  and  that '  all  good  men  will  applaud 
the  vindication  of  the  majesty  of  the  law?' 

"TRUTH." 


PROS  AND   CONS  OF  PUBLIC  OPINION.  69 

In  the  following  number  of  The  News  appeared 
this  note : 

"We  are  in  receipt  of  another  letter  from  'Fair 
Play,'  but  as  personalities  are  indulged  in,  and  as  we 
are  averse  to  entering  upon  a  prolonged  and  bitter 
controversy,  we  are  constrained  to  decline  the  publi- 
cation of  this  communication." 

In  this  we  seem  to  see  a  hint  of  that  spirit  of  harsh- 
ness and  unfairness  which  so  often  characterizes  the 
actions  of  the  liquor  party,  and  which  sometimes 
leads  to  just  such  deeds  as  this  brutal  assault,  which 
"Fair  Play"  would  persuade  the  public  had  never 
occurred. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  ACTION  OF  THE  CANADIAN  PACIFIC  RAILWAY  CO. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  Mr.W.  W.  Smith  had 
been  for  fifteen  years  the  agent  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  Company  at  Sutton  Junction.  During  two  or 
three  years  previous  to  receiving  this  appointment,  he 
had  also  held  other  positions  in  their  service.  He  had 
long  been  a  trusted  and  privileged  employee  of  the  Com- 
pany, to  whom  he  had  apparently  given  full  satisfaction. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Walter  Kelly,  in  his 
evidence  at  Sweetsburg,  testified  that  Howarth  had 
told  him  on  his  arrival  in  Canada  that  the  liquor  men 
had  "  reported  Smith  to  the  Company,  and  his  dis- 
charge had  been  ordered."  Mr.  Smith  soon  had 
reason  to  believe,  also,  that  his  temperance  work  was 
not  pleasing  to  Assistant  Superintendent  Brady,  who 
had  charge  of  that  division  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  in  which  Sutton  Junction  was  situated. 
With  this  man  Mr.  Smith  had  at  one  time  been  quite 
a  favorite,  but,  af,ter  he  had  united  with  the  temper- 
ance workers,  the  friendship  of  Mr.  Brady  became 
less  apparent,  and  after  the  time  of  the  assault  his 
coolness  grew  quite  marked,  and  it  soon  became  evi- 


A CTION  OF  CANADIAN  PA CIFIC  RAIL WA Y  CO.         /I 

dent  to  Mr.  Smith,  although  his  friends  were  long 
loath  to  believe  it,  that  the  Assistant  Superintend- 
ent was  anxious  to  get  rid  of  him.  The  rumor 
spread  abroad,  also,  that  the  liquor  men  were  trying 
to  influence  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company 
so  as  to  obtain  Mr.  Smith's  dismissal  from  their  em- 
ploy, and  people  of  other  places  became  anxious  to 
learn  the  truth  of  the  matter,  as  is  shown  by  the 
following  article  from  the  Montreal  Daily  Witness: 

"It  being  rumored  that  the  liquor  men  who  so 
cruelly  assaulted  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith,  President  of  the 
Brome  County  branch  of  the  Dominion  Alliance,  and 
station  agent  at  Sutton  Junction,  were  not  content  with 
their  cowardly  conduct,  but  were  making  strenuous 
efforts  to  get  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company 
to  remove  Mr.  Smith  from  his  position  as  station  agent, 
a  Witness  reporter,  yesterday  afternoon,  interviewed 
Mr.  Thomas  Tait,  Assistant  General  Manager  of  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  on  the  subject. 

"'Is  it  true,  Mr.  Tait,  that  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  Company  have  been  asked  by  men  inter- 
ested in  the  liquor  trade  to  remove  Mr.  Smith  from 
Sutton  Junction,  as  they  disliked  the  active  interest 
he  takes  in  the  temperance  cause?' 

"  '  It  has  been  stated  to  us  that  Mr.  Smith  at  times, 
in  order  to  get  convictions  against  men  who  broke 
the  liquor  laws,  used  the  information  which  his  posi- 
tion as  station  agent  gave  him  to  secure  convictions. 
Of  course,  you  understand  none  of  our  employees 


72  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

have  the  right  to  use  for  their  private  ends  information 
they  get  as  employees  of  the  road.  I  mean  that  if  Mr. 
Smith  prosecuted  liquor  men  in  his  private  capcity 
he  was  perfectly  justified  in  doing  so,  but  if  in  order 
to  get  convictions  he  had  to  use  information  which  he 
could  alone  get  as  station  agent,  he  has  laid  himself 
open  to  censure.  I  have  no  proof  that  Mr.  Smith  has 
violated  the  confidence  of  the  Company.  Mr.  Brady, 
of  Farnham,  has  gone  to  Sutton  Junction,  and  is 
investigating  the  outrage,  and  he  will  let  me  know 
whether  or  not  there  is  any  foundation  in  the  charge 
against  Mr.  Smith.  If  Mr.  Smith  is  in  the  right  you 
may  rest  assured  the  Company  will  take  care  of  him.' 
"  '  Are  you  trying  to  find  the  man  who  committed 
the  assault  ? ' 

"  '  Yes,  we  have  taken  action  in  that  direction,  too.' 
"  Another  official  of  the  Company  said :  '  I  was 
in  Richford  the  day  Mr.  Smith  was  assaulted.  It 
was  rumored  there  that  the  liquor  men  were  incensed 
against  Mr.  Smith,  as  they  believed  he  found  out  by 
the  way-bills  when  liquor  was  addressed  to  any  one 
at  the  Junction,  and  used  that  information  to  get 
convictions.  I  also  heard  that  it  was  men  from  Ver- 
mont who  assaulted  Mr.  Smith,  and  that  they  had 
been  sent  to  do  the  deed  by  liquor  men  in  Vermont, 
who  are  enraged  at  Mr.  Smith.'  " 

In  this  conversation  the  acknowledgment  was  plainly 
made  by  Mr.  Tait  that  the  liquor  men  had  made  com- 
plaints to  the  Company  concerning  Mr.  Smith,  so  that, 


ACTION  OF  CANADIAN  PACIFIC  RAIL  WA  Y  CO.         73 

whether  their  reports  had  any  influence  with  the  Com- 
pany or  not,  the  fact  remains  without  contradiction 
that  these  enemies  of  temperance  did  make  an  effort 
to  rob  him  of  the  favor  of  his  employers,  and  they 
doubtless  intended  by  this  means,  to  accomplish  just 
what  was  finally,  by  some  means,  brought  about. 

The  only  accusation  which  they  could  make  to  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway  seemed  to  be  that  Mr.  Smith 
was  using  information  which  he  had  obtained  through 
his  position  as  agent  in  order  to  prosecute  them,  but  as 
these  hotel  keepers  were  accused  and  convicted,  not 
of  buying  liquor  and  shipping  it  into  the  county,  but 
of  selling  it  to  others,  and  as  Mr.  Smith  could  not  pos- 
sibly have  obtained  evidence  of  this  in  the  capacity  of 
station  agent,  but  only  through  the  testimony  of  those 
who  had  purchased  the  liquor  or  witnessed  its  sale,  it 
is  very  hard  to  see  the  reason  of  these  complaints, 
v.'hich  were  made  by  the  liquor  men,  and  gravely  in- 
vestigated by  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company. 

The  only  explanation  which  seems  to  suggest  itself 
is  that  these  hotel  keepers  felt  very  angry  because  their 
trade  in  the  souls  of  men  had  been  somewhat  inter- 
fered with,  and  not  content  with  the  assault  which 
had  been  committed,  could  devise  no  better  way  of 
seeking  further  revenge  than  by  thus  arousing  the 
displeasure  of  the  Company  by  which  Mr.  Smith 


74  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

was  employed.  It  was  no  doubt  another  outcome 
of  the  same  spirit  which  had  prompted  that  assault. 

It  is  stated  in  the  above  report  of  the  interview 
with  Mr.  Tait  that  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  had 
taken  action  towards  discovering  Mr.  Smith's  as- 
sailant, but  it  seems  probable  that  had  this  statement 
not  been  made  to  the  reporter  the  public  would  have 
had  no  means  of  knowing  that  they  had  made  any 
such  attempt,  as  the  results  were  never  seen. 

Not  only  the  Witness,  but  the  Dominion  Alliance 
as  well,  became  interested  in  these  rumors  concerning 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  and  the  liquor  men  of 
Brome,  and  wished  to  learn  for  themselves  the  truth 
of  the  reports.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  an  ac- 
count given  in  \hzDaily  Witness  of  an  executive  meet- 
ing of  the  Quebec  Provincial  branch  of  the  Alliance : 

"  Mr.  S.  J.  Carter  referred  to  the  outrage  com- 
mitted upon  the  President  of  the  Brome  County  Al- 
liance. He  had  known  Mr.  Smith  all  his  life,  and 
spoke  very  highly  of  the  good  work  Mr.  Smith  had 
done  for  temperance  in  the  Eastern  townships.  He 
regretted  that  there  had  come  rumors  from  Brome 
which  would  indicate  that  the  liquor  men  were  not 
satisfied  with  the  assault  upon  Mr.  Smith,  but  were 
endeavoring  to  secure  his  dismissal  from  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  at  Sutton  Junc- 
tion. He  wanted  to  know,  and  every  temperance 


A  CTION  OF  CANADIAN  PA  CIFIC  RAIL  WA  Y  CO.        f$ 

man  in  Canada  wanted  to  know,  if  the  Canadian  Pa- 
cific Railway  were  going  to  dismiss  an  officer  of 
their  Company  at  the  behest  of  illegal  liquor  sellers 
of  a  Scott  Act  county?  He,  therefore,  moved: 
'That  we  have  heard  with  pleasure  through  the  press, 
that  Mr.  Tait,  Assistant  General  Manager  of  the  Ca- 
nadian Pacific  Railway,  has  stated  to  the  press  that 
the  Company  was  doing  everything  in  its  power  to 
discover  the  guilty  parties  in  the  attempted  murder 
of  their  agent  at  Sutton  Junction,  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith. 
That  recent  reports  have  come  from  Brome  County 
to  the  effect  that  officials  of  the  Company  are  in  league 
with  the  liquor  men,  and  are  assisting  them  to  pre- 
vent, if  possible,  further  annoyance  by  bringing  pres- 
sure upon  their  agent,  and  that  the  Company  has 
made  no  practical  effort  to  bring  the  guilty  parties  in 
the  recent  assault  case  to  justice.  That  we  hereby 
instruct  our  secretary,  Mr.  Carson,  to  ascertain  from 
the  officials  of  the  Company  if  such  reports  are  true, 
and  make  a  full  report  for  the  next  meeting  of  this 
Alliance.'  The  resolution  was  adopted." 

Somewhat  later  the  following  remarks  appeared  in 
the  editorial  department  of  the  Witness  : 

"The  liquor  men  who  tried  to  murder  Mr.  Smith, 
the  President  of  the  Brome  County  Alliance,  by 
stunning  him  with  a  skull-cracker,  and  then  leaving 
him  on  the  track,  failed  in  that  cowardly  and  brutal 
attempt,  but  have  escaped  punishment  at  the  hands 
of  the  authorities,  who  seem  to  be,  as  usual,  perfectly 


76  THE   STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

helpless  in  the  matter.  These  same  liquor  men,  who 
in  Brome  County  are  all  outlaws,  have  the  impu- 
dence to  use  all  sorts  of  influence  with  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  Company  to  get  them  to  dismiss  Mr. 
Smith,  who  is  their  agent  at  Sutton  Junction.  This  is 
a  fine  state  of  things,  and  the  county,  which  is  a  pro- 
hibition county,  is  watching  to  see  what  the  Company 
will  do.  Here  is  a  chance  for  capital  to  tyrannize 
at  the  behest  of  organized  iniquity  and  lawlessness." 

It  often  happens  that  people  get  very  much  aroused 
and  alarmed  when  there  is  no  real  foundation  for  their 
fears,  but  not  so  in  this  case.  The  following  from  the 
Witness  of  October  8th  shows  that  there  was  some  cause 
for  excitement  in  the  minds  of  the  temperance  people : 

"The  sequel  to  the  lead  pipe  murderous  assault 
upon  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith,  President  of  the  Brome 
County  Alliance,  occurred  on  Saturday  last.  It  has 
been  well  known  that  the  liquor  men,  baffled  in  their 
attempt  to  murder  Mr.  Smith,  had,  however,  not 
abandoned  their  plan  to  ruin  him  and  discourage 
other  temperance  workers  in  the  county.  Their 
scheme  was  known  to  the  temperance  people,  but  it 
was  not  thought  possible  that  it  would  succeed.  It 
was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  securing  of  the 
dismissal  of  Mr.  Smith  from  his  position  as  agent  of 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway.  It  has,  however,  suc- 
ceeded. Mr.  Smith  was  notified  on  Saturday  last  of 
his  dismissal  from  the  Company's  employ.  Some 
astonishing  revelations  may  be  expected,  as  the  tern- 


ACTION  OF  CANADIAN  PACIFIC  RAILWAY  CO.        77 

perance  people  are  intensely  indignant  that  the  Com- 
pany should  have  yielded  to  the  demands  of  the  liquor 
party  and  removed  from  its  service  one  who  has  been 
for  years  a  trusted  servant  and  a  faithful  officer." 

It  was  indeed  a  great  surprise  to  most  of  the  tem- 
perance community  when  the  news  of  this  dismissal 
went  abroad.  They  had  not  been  ready  to  believe 
that  in  these  days  of  temperance  agitation,  in  these 
last  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a  great  and  pow- 
erful corporation  like  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
Company,  knowing  for  a  fact  that  nine-tenths  of  all 
the  terrible  accidents  that  occur  on  railroads  caus- 
ing loss  of  life  and  property  are  the  outcome  of 
intemperance,  would  become  the  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  illegal  liquor  sellers  to  carry  out  their  will. 

The  correspondence  which  had  passed  between  Mr. 
Smith  and  Assistant  Superintendent  Brady  was  pre- 
served and  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Alliance,  who 
requested  and  obtained  its  publication  in  the  Witness. 

It  was  also  afterwards  published  in  The  Templar  and 
in  several  other  papers.  It  describes  many  of  the  events 
which  led  to  Mr.  Smith's  dismissal,  and  seems  to  show 
plainly  the  real  cause  of  that  dismissal  in  spite  of  all  later 
contradictions.  The  first  communication  which  the 
accused  agent  received  from  theAssistantSuperintend- 
ent  concerning  his  temperance  work  was  as  follows : 


7 8  THE  STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

"  W.  W.  Smith,  Agent,  Sutton  Junction. 

"DEAR  SIR, — I  enclose  you  herewith  two  letters, 
one  from  B.  L.  Wilson,  of  Glen  Sutton,  and  one  from 
Nutter  &  French,  of  Sherbrooke,  both  making  com- 
plaints that  you  are  taking  advantage  of  your  posi- 
tion as  agent  of  this  Company  in  getting  together 
testimony  to  convict  hotel  keepers  and  others  of  sell- 
ing liquor.  It  does  not  seem  possible  to  me  that 
these  statements  can  be  true,  but  the  charges  are 
made  not  only  by  the  parties,  writing  these  letters, 
but  by  several  other  parties  in  Brome  County,  and 
who  claim  that  they  are  in  a  position  to  subtantiate 
them.  I  desire  to  know  from  you  whether  you  have 
used  your  position  to  get  evidence  as  stated  above, 
or  whether  you  have  used  your  evidence  which  you 
may  have  come  possessed  of  through  being  an  agent 
of  this  Company  for  the  purpose  of  convicting  liquor 
sellers.  Your  immediate  reply  with  the  return  of 
the  enclosed  papers  is  requested. 

"Yours  truly,         F.  P.  BRADY,  Asst.  Supt. 

" Farnham,  June  nth,  1894." 

Below  are  the  letters  enclosed  in  this  communica- 
tion from  Mr.  Brady,  and  containing  the  complaints, 
or  a  part  of  them,  which  had  been  received  by  him 
concerning  the  Sutton  Junction  agent.  The  first  was 
written  by  a  wholesale  liquor  firm  in  Sherbrooke, 
P.  Q.,  the  second  by  a  brother  of  James  Wilson  who, 


ACTION  OF  CANADIAN  PACIFIC  RAIL  WA  Y  CO.         ?Q 

Kelly  said,  drove  the  team  for  him  on  the  night  of 
the  assault  at  Sutton  Junction. 


"F.  P.  Brady,  West  Farnham. 

"DEAR  SIR, — We  are  having  goods  shipped  by 
us  to  Sutton  returned  to  us  with  the  information  that 
your  agent  at  Sutton  Junction  watches  all  liquor 
shipments  that  go  there,  and  then  gives  the  informa- 
tion to  temperance  parties,  who  make  complaints, 
and  get  the  hotel  men  fined.  We  are  in  receipt  of 
two  letters  to  that  effect  this  morning.  We  think 
you  should  take  some  action  in  the  matter,  as  it  will 
effectually  stop  all  shipments  to  that  county  if  it 
continues. 

"Yours  truly,        NUTTER  &  FRENCH. 

"  Sherbrooke,  June  6tht  1894." 


"Nutter  &  French. 

"DEAR  GENTLEMEN, — I  can't  buy  no  more  goods 
from  you  at  Sherbrooke,  for  the  agent  at  Sutton 
Junction,  name  W.  W.  Smith,  is  pawing  over  all 
goods  and  reporting,  and  he  has  been  having  men 
to  inform  of  all  the  hotels  in  the  county.  Unless  he 
is  out  of  that  job  you  won't  do  more  business  in 
Brome  County.  Yours,  B.  L.  WILSON. 

"Glen  Sutton,  June  yth, 


8O  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT, 

To  these  accusations,  Mr.  Smith  made  the  following 
reply : 

"F.  P.  Brady,  Esq.,  Asst.  Supt.,  Farnham. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — Referring  to  enclosed,  I  deny  charge 
made  against  me,  fairly  and  squarely,  and,  further 
than  that,  I  have  looked  back  nearly  two  years  and 
find  no  shipments  of  liquor  for  these  parties  in  my 
transfer  books.  I  have  never  used  my  position  in 
any  way  as  an  agent  for  this  Company  to  convict 
liquor  sellers,  and  no  man  can  substantiate  such  a 
statement. 

"As  a  member  of  the  Brome  County  Alliance,  I 
have  worked  as  a  private  citizen  with  other  members 
of  the  Alliance,  and  the  complaints  sent  to  Mr.  Jewell, 
East  Farnham,  as  evidence  against  the  hotel  keepers 
in  this  county  have  come  from  the  leading  men.  I 
shall  use  no  evidence  which  I  become  in  possession 
of  as  an  agent  of  this  Company  for  the  purpose  of 
convicting  liquor  sellers. 

"  Yours  truly,  W.  W.  SMITH. 

"  Sutton  Junction,  June  ijth,  1894." 


"This  is  certainly  a  very  emphatic  denial  of  the 
charges  made  against  him,  and,  coming  from  a  trusted 
employee  of  fifteen  years,  it  would  seem  that  it  should 
have  been  quite  satisfactory.  However,  Mr.  Brady 


A  CTION  OF  CANADIAN  PA  C1FIC  RAIL  WA  Y  CO.        8 1 

appeared  to  give  more  credence  to  the  testimony  of 
the  liquor  men  than  to  that  of  Mr.  Smith,  and  to 
allow  himself  to  be  influenced  by  later  complaints 
which  were  made  by  them. 

Some  time  after  the  above  letters  were  written,  Mr. 
Smith  made  application  to  the  Assistant  Superin- 
tendent at  Farnham  for  leave  of  absence  to  attend  a 
National  Prohibition  Convention,  to  be  held  at  Mon- 
treal on  July  3d  and  4th.  He  received  the  following 
reply,  which  shows  how  unwilling  Mr.  Brady  was  to 
do  anything  which  might  tend  to  encourage  Mr. 
Smith  in  his  temperance  work: 

"W.  W.  Smith,  Esq.,  Agent. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — As  per  my  wire  of  this  date,  I  cannot 
arrange  to  let  you  off  on  July  3d  and  4th  ;  I  have  no 
spare  man  at  liberty.  The  assistant  at  Sutton  should 
have  all  he  can  properly  attend  to  during  the  night 
to  necessitate  his  sleeping  during  the  daytime. 
"Yours,  etc., 

"F.  P.  BRADY,  Asst.  Supt. 

"  Farnham,  July  2d,  1894." 


The  next  letter  from  Mr.  Brady,  written  the  day 
after  the  assault,  and  while  Mr.  Smith  was  confined 
in  bed  on  account  of  the  bruises  he  had  received, 
was  as  follows : 


82  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

"W.  W.  Smith,  Esq.,  Agent,  Siitton  Junction. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — Within  the  past  four  or  five  weeks  the 
heads  of  different  departments,  as  well  as  Mr. 
Leonard,  the  General  Superintendent,  and  myself, 
have  received  numerous  complaints  from  shippers 
and  the  public  generally  with  reference  to  your  ac- 
tions with  the  late  prosecution  of  liquor  sellers  in 
Brome  County.  The  basis  of  these  complaints  is 
made  that  you  have  used  your  position  as  agent  for 
this  Company  to  procure  evidence  with  which  to 
prosecute  liquor  sellers.  I  have  replied  to  some  of 
these  people  that  so  far  as  I  can  ascertain  you  have 
not  used  your  position  as  agent  to  procure  such  evi- 
dence; but  I  must  inform  you  that  the  same  rule 
with  reference  to  temperance  agitation  that  governs 
employees  of  this  Company  with  reference  to  politics 
must  be  lived  up  to,  i.  e.,  you  must  devote  your 
whole  and  entire  time  to  the  Railway  Company  if  you 
desire  to  hold  your  position.  You  must  do  nothing 
whatever  to  antagonize  the  interests  of  the  Company, 
or  to  create  feeling  between  the  Company  and  its 
patrons.  You  will  understand  by  this  that  you 
must  cease  temperance  lecturing  or  taking  an  active 
part  in  temperance  gatherings  or  agitation. 

"  I  make  this  letter  personal  as  I  consider  that  the 
contents  of  it  will  remain  strictly  between  ourselves. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"F.  P.  BRADY. 

" Farnham,  July  oth,  1804" 


ACTION  OF  CANADIAN  PACIFIC  RAILWAY  CO.        83 

This  letter  is  very  emphatic,  and  if  the  spirit  of 
it  were  carried  out  in  every  case  as  faithfully  as  Mr. 
Brady  endeavored  to  carry  it  out  in  this  case,  the 
employees  of  the  road  would  be  a  band  of  slaves,  and 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  a  sort  of  Canadian 
Siberia  with  all  its  positions  shunned  by  every  self- 
respecting  laborer.  It  is  well,  indeed,  for  the  Cana- 
dian Pacific  Railway  that  all  its  officers  do  not  carry 
out  these  tyrannical  rules  with  such  precision  as  this, 
yet  it  is  plainly  inferred  by  Mr.  Brady's  words  that 
such  rules  had  been  previously  applied  in  the  matter 
of  politics. 

If  so,  the  Canadian  public  need  to  stop  and  realize 
what  a  moderate  autocrat  they  are  supporting  in 
their  midst  in  a  land  of  responsible  rule. 

Mr.  Brady  says  :  "  You  must  do  nothing  whatever 
to  antagonize  the  interests  of  the  Company,  or  to 
create  feeling  between  the  Company  and  its  patrons." 
This  seems  to  be  a  very  strange  sentence  in  two  re- 
spects. First,  how  can  temperance  work  "  antagonize 
the  interests  of  the  Company?"  A  railroad  is  al- 
ways supported  by  a  community,  and  must  depend 
entirely  upon  that  community  for  its  success,  its  wealth 
and  its  very  existence.  The  more  wealthy  and  pros- 
perous a  people  become,  the  more  will  they  patron- 
ize a  railroad  and  contribute  to  its  maintenance  and 


84  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

growth.  The  community,  moreover,  is  made  up  of 
individuals,  and  its  prosperity  must  depend  upon  the 
health,  enterprise,  ability,  success  and  moral  charac- 
ter of  the  people  who  compose  it.  Does  not  tem- 
perance tend  to  build  up  the  virtues  and  prosperity 
of  individuals,  and  thus  to  increase  the  general  pros- 
perity of  the  country  and  add  to  the  success  of  all 
useful  public  institutions? 

Second,  how  can  temperance  work  "  create  feel- 
ing between  the  Company  and  its  patrons?"  Surely 
not  all  the  patrons  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
are  wholesale  and  illicit  liquor  sellers?  Mr.  Brady 
seems  to  entirely  ignore  the  great  company  of  law- 
abiding  temperance  people  who  would  respect  the 
Company  far  more  if  its  employees  were  active  tem- 
perance men,  and  with  whom  Mr.  Brady  himself, 
rather  than  Mr.  Smith,  created  intense  feeling. 

It  was  stated  in  a  former  chapter  that  Mr.  Smith 
accompanied  Detective  Carpenter  to  Marlboro, 
Mass.,  when  he  went  in  search  of  Kelly.  Mr.  Car- 
penter "on  his  own  responsibility,"  went  to  Mr. 
Brady,  to  ask  permission  for  him  to  do  so,  and  the 
following  leave  of  absence  was  sent  to  Mr.  Smith : 

"W.  W.  Smith,  Esq.,  Sutton  Junction. 

"DEAR  SIR, — You  may  go  on  No.  n,  Conductor 
will  have  pass  for  you. 


ACTION  OF  CANADIAN  PACIFIC  RAILWAY  CO.        85 

"Sinclair  will  be  at  Sutton  Junction  on  No.  15  to- 
night to  take  charge  during  your  absence.  O'Regan 
must  look  after  the  business  this  P.  M. 

"F.  P.  BRADY. 

"Famkam,  Aug.  2Otht  1894" 

As  this  leave  of  absence  was  indefinite  as  to  time, 
and  Mr.  Smith  was  engaged  with  the  assault  case 
for  several  days  after  his  return  from  Marlboro,  the 
court  having  opened  on  Sept.  1st,  he  had  not  yet  re- 
sumed work  at  Sutton  Junction,  when  on  the  eve- 
ning of  September  3d  he  addressed  a  temperance 
meeting  at  Richford,  Vermont.  The  next  day  Mr. 
Brady,  who  seemed  to  keep  remarkably  well  in- 
formed as  to  the  whereabouts  of  his  agent  when  off 
duty,  wrote  Mr.  Smith  as  follows,  labelling  this  letter 
like  the  previous  one,  "  personal:  " 

"  W.  W.  Smith,  Esq.,  Agent,  Sutton  Junction. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  wrote  you  on  July  9th  with  refer- 
ence to  what  you  must  do  if  you  remained  in  the 
employ  of  this  Company.  I  am  aware  that  last  night 
you  delivered  a  temperance  lecture  at  Richford  ;  this 
leads  me  to  think  that  you  propose  to  ignore  en- 
tirely the  wishes  of  this  Company,  and  do  as  you  see 
fit.  If  such  is  the  case  you  will  oblige  me  by  send- 
ing me  your  resignation  by  the  first  train,  and  va- 
cating the  Company's  premises  at  Sutton  Junction  at 


86  THE    STORY   OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

the  earliest  possible    moment    so   that  they  can  be 
occupied  by  the  new  agent. 

"Yours  truly, 

"F.  P.  BRADY,  Asst.  Supt, 
Farnham,  Sept.  4.1/1,  1894." 


Strange,  indeed,  that  the  Assistant  Superintendent 
should  have  supposed  that  an  affair  like  this  could 
always  remain  personal,  and  never  be  subjected  to 
the  public  gaze !  Did  he  not  know  there  was  a 
temperance  community  in  Canada  who  would,  at 
least,  enquire  into  the  case  of  a  persecuted  brother? 
It  is  strange,  also,  that  while  other  roads  at  the  pres- 
ent time  are  finding  it  very  much  to  their  advantage 
to  employ  temperance  men  to  the  exclusion  of 
others ;  while  serious  accidents  are  frequently  taking 
place  on  the  different  roads  in  which  scores  of 
human  beings  perish  through  the  recklessness  of 
some  employee  whose  intellect  is  clouded  by  the  ac- 
tion of  strong  drink;  and  while  some  new  roads  in 
the  beginning  of  their  existence  are  adopting  very 
strict  temperance  rules ;  when  even  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  has  been  obliged  to  dismiss  or  sus- 
pend some  of  its  men  for  excessive  drinking ;  it  is 


ACTION  OF  CANADIAN  PACIFIC  RAILWAY  CO.        8/ 

very  strange  in  view  of  all  these  facts  that  an  official 
of  this  great  road  should  ask  a  station  agent,  be- 
cause he  delivers  a  temperance  lecture  off  duty,  to 
"vacate  the  Company's  premises,  so  that  they  can 
be  occupied  by  the  new  agent." 

An  example  of  what  intemperance  among  railway 
employees  often  means  may  be  found  in  the  Craigs' 
Road  disaster,  which  occurred  on  the  Grand  Trunk 
in  July,  1895.  1°  this  accident,  thirteen  persons 
were  killed,  and  thirty-four  others,  some  of  whom 
died  soon  after,  were  wounded.  At  the  inquest  a 
Victoriaville  hotel  keeper  testified  that  the  engineer 
of  the  wrecked  train  had  purchased  from  him  a  quart 
of  ale  on  the  night  before  the  fearful  disaster,  which 
hurried  so  many  into  eternity. 

There  were  some  well-meaning  people  who  are 
counted  in  the  temperance  ranks  who  advised  Mr. 
Smith  to  submit  to  Mr.  Brady,  and  take  no  more 
active  part  in  temperance  work  rather  than  risk  the 
loss  of  his  agency.  This  advice  was  no  doubt  meant 
as  a  kindness,  although  it  did  not  partake  of  the 
martyr's  spirit,  but  Mr.  Smith  did  not  see  fit  to  fol- 
low it,  choosing  rather  to  yield  his  position  than  his 
principles.  However,  he  did  not  send  a  resignation, 
but  a  few  days  later  wrote  Mr.  Brady  the  following 
letter : 


88  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

"F.  P.  Brady,  Esq.,  Asst.  Supt.,  Farnham. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — On  account  of  circumstances  which  I 
could  not  in  any  way  control,  I  have  been  obliged  to 
delay  answering  your  letter  of  the  Qth  of  July  last. 
I  regret  very  much  to  notice  that  you  have  had  occa- 
sion to  refer  again  to  complaints  made  against  me, 
which  you  say  are  numerous,  and  not  only  from 
shippers,  but  from  the  public  generally.  In  a  former 
letter  to  you  I  denied  any  just  cause  for  com- 
plaint. 

I  have  now  been  fifteen  years  or  more  in  the  service 
of  the  Company,  and  during  that  time  I  have  endeav- 
ored to  render,  I  trust,  a  faithful  service.  I  have 
also  received  another  letter  from  you,  dated  Septem- 
ber 4th,  asking  me  to  send  you  my  resignation  by 
the  first  train,  and  ordering  me  to  vacate  the  Com- 
pany's premises  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  so 
that  they  can  be  occupied  by  the  new  agent.  I  wish 
you  would  explain  why  you  order  me  to  resign,  be- 
cause I  delivered  a  temperance  lecture  at  Richford, 
as  I  have  a  leave  of  absence  from  the  Company  for 
the  present,  and  supposed  I  had  a  right  to  lecture  off 
duty  on  any  occasion,  time  or  place.  You  perhaps 
cannot  realize  how  much  I  value  my  honor  and  rep- 
utation, as  it  is  about  the  only  thing  that  I  have  in 
the  world  to  protect,  and  I  must  ask  you  to  supply 
me  with  the  names  of  those  making  complaints  against 
me  and  the  nature  of  their  complaints,  and  as  you 
also  state  the  public  generally  have  made  complaints, 
I  trust  there  should  be  no  hesitancy  on  the  part  of 
the  Company  to  supply  me  with  the  information 


ACTION  OF  CANADIAN  PACIFIC  RAILWAY  CO.        89 

asked  for,  as  you  can  readily  see  it  is  beyond  the 
realm  of  privacy.     Please  reply. 

"W.  W.  SMITH. 

"  Sutlon   Junction,  Sept.  ?tht  1804." 


This  was  Mr.  Brady's  reply: 

"W.  W.  Smith,  Esq.,  Sutton  Junction,  Que. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  your  letter  of  the  6th  inst. ; 
my  letter  of  July  9th  to  you  was  perfectly  plain.  It 
told  you  that  you  must  either  quit  temperance  work 
or  quit  the  Company.  It  makes  no  difference  whether 
you  are  on  duty  or  off  duty  so  far  as  this  Company 
is  concerned.  They  demand  the  whole  and  entire 
time  of  their  men,  and  they  are  going  to  have  it. 
So  far  as  the  leave  of  absence  you  speak  of  is  con- 
cerned, I  am  not  aware  that  you  had  any.  Mr.  Car- 
penter came  to  me,  he  said,  at  your  request,  to  get 
permission  for  you  to  be  absent  three  or  four  days  to 
go  down  into  New  England,  and  I  gave  such  permis- 
sion, since  which  time  I  have  heard  nothing  from 
you,  except  that  you  are  disobeying  my  orders  and 
the  wishes  of  the  Company.  I  was  in  hopes  you 
would  relieve  the  strain  by  gracefully  tendering  your 
resignation.  Unless  you  see  fit  to  do  that  I  shall  have 
to  take  other  steps. 

"Yours  truly,         F.  P.  BRADY,  Asst.  Supt. 
"  Farnham,  Sept.  ftli,  1804."     Dictated. 


9O  THE  STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

It  appears  from  this  letter  that  Mr.  Brady  wished 
his  agent  to  resume  work  immediately  on  his  return 
with  Mr.  Carpenter  and  Kelly  from  "New  England," 
and  did  not  expect  him  to  help  in  the  search  for  other 
guilty  parties  in  the  assault  case,  or  even  to  appear 
as  a  witness  in  court. 

How  does  this  compare  with  the  statement  which 
had  been  made  by  Mr.  Tait  that  the  Company  had 
taken  steps  towards  discovering  the  man  who  com- 
mitted the  assault? 

After  reading  these  letters  from  the  Assistant 
Superintendent,  it  is  very  difficult  for  some  of  the 
temperance  people  to  believe  that  Mr.  Smith  was 
dismissed  for  any  reason  other  than  that  so  plainly 
indicated  in  Mr.  Brady's  own  words. 

Mr.  Smith's  next  letter  to  Mr.  Brady  was  as  follows : 

"  F.  P.  Brady,  Esq. 

"DEAR  SIR, — Your  letter  of  the  ;th  inst.  to  hand 
in  reply  to  mine  of  that  date,  which  does  not  cover  the 
information  asked  for.  Now,  I  would  like  to  know 
upon  what  grounds  you  demand  my  resignation,  viz. : 
because  I  addressed  an  audience  in  the  United  States 
or  because  complaints  have  been  made  against  me  as 
you  say  in  your  letters  of  June  I  ith  and  July  9th,  as 
I  wish  to  be  in  a  position  to  answer  to  any  charges 
made  against  me.  I  am  very  sorry  you  take  the 
stand  against  me  you  do  in  regard  to  my  temperance 


ACTION  OF  CANADIAN  PACIFIC  RAILWAY  CO.        9! 

principles.  I  understand  perfectly  well  that  I  am  no 
longer  pleasant  to  your  taste  ;  but  I  expect  fair  treat- 
ment from  the  Company,  and  ask  for  nothing  more. 
As  far  as  my  leave  of  absence  is  concerned,  I  have  a 
telegram  from  you  that  I  can  be  absent  and  Mr.  Sin- 
clair will  take  my  place  until  I  resume  work  again. 
No  time  is  specified.  Since  I  returned  home,  I  have 
been  busy  looking  up  evidence  against  the  parties 
who  were  instrumental  in  my  assault  on  July  8th  last. 
I  intend  to  resume  work  again  as  soon  as  possible,  I 
think  about  a  week  from  Monday  next,  September 
24th,  unless  advised  by  you  that  my  services  are  no 
longer  required. 

"Yours  truly,  W.  W.  SMITH,  Agent. 

"  Sutton  Junction,  Sept.  nth,  1894." 


As  no  reply  came  Mr.  Smith  wrote  again  : 

"F.  P.  Brady,  Esq.,  Asst.  Supt.,  Farnham. 

"DEAR  SlR,  —  Will  you  please  reply  to  my  letter 
of  the  I  ith  inst.  in  regard  to  resuming  work  Monday 
next,  September  24th.  I  am  waiting  anxiously  to 
hear  from  you. 

"Yours  truly,  W.  W.  SMITH. 

"  Sutton  Junction,  Sept.  iyth, 


Still  there  was  no  answer,  and  on  Monday  morning 
Mr.  Smith  telegraphed  as  follows  : 


92  THE   STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

"F.  P.  Brady,  Esq.,  Farnham. 

"  I  am  ready  to  resume  work  this  morning.  Please 
reply.  W.  W.  SMITH. 

"  Sutton  Junction,  Sept.  z^th,  1804." 

To  this  came  the  following  reply : 

"•W.  W.  Smith,  Sutton  Junction. 

"Nothing  for  you  to  do  this  morning.  Will  advise 
you  when  your  services  are  required. 

"F.  P.  BRADY. 

"Farnham,  Sept.  24th,  1894." 

This  was  followed  on  October  6th  by  an  official 
announcement  from  Mr.  Brady  telling  Mr.  Smith 
that  his  services  were  no  longer  required  by  the  Com- 
pany. And  in  all  this  correspondence  there  is  not  a 
hint  of  unfaithfulness  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Smith  to  any 
order  of  his  employers  save  the  one  to  "  quit  tem- 
perance work."  When  the  above  correspondence 
appeared  in  the  Montreal  Daily  Witness  it  was  ac- 
companied by  the  following  remarks  in  the  editorial 
department: 

"We  are  requested  by  the  Brome  County  Al- 
liance to  publish  the  correspondence  which  preceded 
the  dismissal  of  the  President,  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith, 
from  his  position  as  station  agent  of  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  at  Sutton  Junction.  We  have  al- 


ACTION  OF  CANADIAN  PACIFIC  RAILWAY  CO.        93 

ready  pointed  out  the  extraordinary  assumption  of 
wage  slavery,  which  is  implied  in  this  dismissal  as 
accounted  for  by  the  official  who  did  it.  The  claim 
made  by  Mr.  Smith's  employing  officer,  and  practi- 
cally indorsed  by  the  Company  in  concurring  in 
this  dismissal,  is  that  the  Company  owns  its  em- 
ployees, soul  and  body,  and  that  they  can  only  ful- 
fill their  rights  of  citizenship  at  its  pleasure.  It  is 
not  to  be  supposed  that  this  power  asserted  over  the 
lives  of  its  employees  is  going  to  be  insisted  on  by 
the  Company  as  against  every  thing  they  do,  and 
that  every  man  who  takes  part  in  a  baseball  match 
or  a  mock  parliament  will  be  dismissed.  It  is  not  to 
be  supposed  that  the  man  who  busies  himself  even 
in  politics  will  be  dismissed  if  he  takes  care  that  he 
does  not  do  so  on  a  side  distasteful  to  the  Company. 
The  particular  thing  which  is  a  capital  offence  with 
the  Company,  according  to  this  correspondence,  is 
to  busy  one's  self  with  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  of 
the  land  or  advocate  temperance  in  public.  If  tem- 
perance advocacy  is  going  to  be  boycotted  by  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway  in  the  interests  of  the  ille- 
gal and  murderous  liquor  business,  there  are  ten 
thousand  good  customers  of  the  road  who  will  want 
to  know  the  reason  why.  This  should  indeed  be 
asked  for  in  parliament." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MORE  BITS   OF  PUBLIC   OPINION. 

The  action  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  in 
thus  dismissing  their  agent  at  Sutton  Junction, 
apparently  for  no  other  cause  than  the  vigorous 
opposition  which  he  offered  to  the  work  of  the  liq- 
nor  party  in  his  own  vicinity,  like  the  assault  case 
previously,  elicited  much  criticism  from  the  public. 

We  purpose  in  this  chapter  reproducing  some  of 
the  many  opinions  regarding  the  dismissal  which 
appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  public  press. 

It  has  been  said  that  "  the  greatest  power  under 
heaven  is  public  opinion,"  and  it  may  be  profitable 
for  us  sometimes  to  study  such  an  important  power, 
and  especially  to  consider  the  opinions  of  people 
who  uphold  peace,  temperance  and  religion.  The 
following  is  the  view  of  The  Templar  of  Hamilton, 
as  quoted  in  the  Montreal  Daily  Witness: 

"The  announcement  that  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  has  rallied  to  the  aid  of  the  lawless  and 


MORE  BITS   OF  PUBLIC   OPINION.  95 

murderous  liquor  gang  in  Brome  County,  Quebec,  is 
sufficiently  suggestive  and  startling  to  demand  at- 
tention. Its  dismissal  of  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith,  C.  P.  R. 
agent  at  Sutton  Junction,  and  President  of  the 
Brome  County  branch  of  the  Dominion  Alliance, 
because  of  his  activity  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties  in  the  latter  office,  is  one  of  the  most  foolish 
and  anti-Canadian  acts  of  that  great  corporation. 

"  Mr.  Smith,  it  will  be  remembered,  incurred  the 
hostility  of  the  illegal  liquor  venders  in  his  locality, 
and,  as  the  recent  legal  investigation  shows,  a  con- 
spiracy was  formed,  and  a  bartender  hired  to  're- 
move' him.  One  night,  while  in  the  performance  of 
his  duties  at  the  Sutton  Junction  station,  he  was  mur- 
derously assailed,  and  barely  escaped  with  his  life. 
Detectives  were  employed,  the  assassin  was  arrested, 
and  has  confessed  that  he  was  paid  by  local  men, 
interested  in  the  liquor  traffic,  for  his  work.  He  and 
two  others,  including  a  hotel  keeper,  are  now  in  jail 
awaiting  trial,  bail  having  been  refused. 

"Since  the  committal  of  the  prisoners,  Mr.  Smith 
was  dismissed  by  the  C.  P.  R.  Upon  September  /th, 
he  received  a  letter  from  the  Assistant  Superintend- 
ent in  which  occurred  these  words :  '  You  must  either 
quit  temperance  work  or  quit  the  Company.  It  makes 
no  difference  whether  you  are  on  duty  or  off  duty,  so 
far  as  this  Company  is  concerned.  They  demand 
the  whole  and  entire  time  of  their  men,  and  they  are 

going  to  have  it.' 

This  subject  is  broader  than  Mr.  Smith  or  any  indi- 
vidual. It  is  the  question  of  the  right  of  the  citizen 


g6  THE  STORY   OF  A  DARK  PLOT, 

to  enjoy  and  exercise  the  rights  of  a  citizen  while 
employed  by  such  a  corporation  as  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway.  It  is  the  old  problem  of  slave  or 
freeman.  The  Railway  is  undoubtedly  entitled  to 
the  best  service  of  its  employees,  while  on  duty ;  but, 
after  hours,  the  citizens  should  be  free  to  engage  in 
those  pleasures  and  pursuits  which  do  not  conflict 
with  the  welfare  of  society  and  the  State,  Mr.  Smith 
should  be  free  to  participate  in  the  agitation  to  drive 
the  criminal  liquor  traffic  out  of  the  country  without 
being  called  upon  to  suffer  the  loss  of  income.  The 
man  who  braved  the  liquor  party,  and  nearly  sealed 
his  devotion  to  the  temperance  reform  with  his  life 
blood,  was  not  the  man  to  abandon  his  convictions 
at  the  command  of  a  railway  manager. 

"The  course  of  the  C.  P.  R.,  in  dismissing  Mr. 
Smith,  has  been  warmly  endorsed  by  the  cowardly 
and  murderous  liquor  gang  in  Brome,  and  is  so  open 
to  the  suspicion  of  being  an  attempt  to  coerce  the 
conscience  and  abridge  the  liberties  of  the  citizens  to 
serve  the  liquor  interests  as  to  make  it  imperative 
that  some  member  of  the  Commons,  which  has  so 
largely  subsidized  that  road,  demand  in  the  approach- 
ing session  a  public  investigation.  A  whole  army  of 
men  are  in  the  service  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Rail- 
way Company,  scattered  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  and  the  nation  cannot  afford  to  allow  the  des- 
potic authority  claimed  by  the  Company  over  these 
men.  If  it  can  demand  the  entire  time  of  their  men 
on  or  off  duty,  may  it  not  next  demand  the  service 
of  the  men  at  the  ballot  box?  An  issue  has  been 


MORE  BITS  OF  PUBLIC  OPINION.  97 

raised  by  this  incident  which  demands  the  vigorous 
protest  of  the  press  of  the  country." 


The  opinion  of  the  Witness  itself  may  be  learned 
from  the  following  article  in  the  Daily  Witness  of 
November  24th,  1894: 

"  We  have  received  a  number  of  letters  from  per- 
sons who  have  determined  to  give  the  preference  of 
their  railway  patronage  against  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway,  as  a  testimony  against  the  attitude  of  that 
Company  towards  the  temperance  reform,  as  mani- 
fested in  the  dismissal  of  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith  from  his 
position  as  station  agent  at  Sutton  Junction,  for  his 
active  advocacy  of  temperance  and  enforcement  of 
prohibitory  law.  Is  it  right  for  us  to  publish  these 
letters,  which  are  evidently  only  the  beginning  of 
what  is  yet  to  come,  for  the  feeling  throughout  the 
country  is  very  bitter  in  many  quarters  where  this 
challenge  to  the  advocates  of  law  and  order  has  be- 
come known?  The  question  amounts  to  this:  Is  it 
right  for  persons  who  condemn  the  course  of  the 
Company  to  punish  it  in  this  way,  and  is  it  right  for 
them  to  make  a  public  question  of  it  by  publishing 
their  action?  The  reason  given  for  the  dismissal  of 
Mr.  Smith,  as  shown  by  the  correspondence  which 
was  recently  made  public  in  these  columns,  was  that 
he  was  making  things  uncomfortable  for  certain  cus- 
tomers of  the  Company  who  were  importing  liquor 
into  Brome  County.  As  Brome  is  a  prohibition 


98  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

county,  those  who  import  liquor  for  sale  within  its 
bounds  are  outlaws.  In  Mr.  Smith's  painful  experi- 
ence they  are  also  assassins.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
according  to  Mr.  Smith's  statement,  no  shipments  of 
liquor  passed  through  his  station,  and  he  did  not  use 
his  position  as  agent  of  the  Company  to  bring  the 
lawbreakers  to  justice.  Why  both  the  Company  and 
its  agents  should  not  be  ranged  on  the  side  of  the 
law  of  the  land,  and  why  the  Company  should  so 
protect  its  share  in  an  unlawful  business  against  any 
promoter  of  law  and  order,  are  questions  not  raised. 
Commercial  corporations  do  not  pretend  to  have 
souls  or  conscience.  Nobody  expects  them  to  have 
any,  and  consequently  no  one  is  angry  when  they 
show  that  they  have  not.  Quite  apart  from  all  ques- 
tions of  morals,  the  money  interests  of  the  Company 
are  those  of  the  country,  and  the  liquor  business 
does  not  promote  the  business  of  the  country.  More- 
over, it  is  in  the  interest  of  the  railway,  and  emi- 
nently so  of  its  customers,  to  have  railway  servants 
protected  from  drink,  and  the  enforcement  of  the 
laws  against  liquor  is  the  most  direct  way  to  protect 
them  from  drink.  This  is  all  by  the  way,  however ; 
Companies  are  not  abstract  reasoners. 

"But  there  is  that  in  this  action  of  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  Company  which  the  public  are  in- 
clined to  resent  even  at  the  hands  of  a  Company. 
In  the  first  place  the  Company  declares  that  it  so 
values  the  custom  of  the  liquor  men  of  Brome,  that 
it  can  afford  for  their  sake  to  boycott  the  advocates 
of  temperance  and  the  enforcers  of  law.  A  station 


MORE  BITS  OF  PUBLIC  OPINION.  99 

agent,  or  even  a  superior  officer,  might  be  long  and 
notoriously  a  victim  of  these  same  liquor  men,  and 
still  remain  an  officer  of  the  Company,  but  if  he  be- 
comes their  active  enemy,  and  the  active  friend  of 
mankind,  he  is  dismissed.  This  is  and  it  is  evidently 
accepted  as  being  a  challenge  to  all  friends  of  law 
and  order,  who  are  in  a  position  to  make  the  Com- 
pany suffer  in  its  sensitive  pockets,  to  show  whether 
the  custom  of  the  friends  of  law  cannot  be  made  as 
powerful  an  engine  for  the  defence  of  right  as  that 
of  the  enemies  of  law  and  order  is  for  the  defence  of 
crime.  This  is  what  temperance  men  throughout 
the  country  seem  to  be  turning  over  in  their  minds 
just  now,  and  are  likely  to  go  on  doing  so,  so  long  as 
the  position  taken  by  Mr.  Brady  towards  Mr.  Smith 
remains  the  approved  action  of  the  Company,  and  so 
long  as  one  holding  the  intolerable  views  of  Mr. 
Brady  remains  its  approved  agent. 

"  There  is  another  aspect  of  the  Company's  action 
through  Mr.  Brady  which  is  rankling  in  the  minds 
of  the  wage-earning  population.  Mr.  Brady  told  Mr. 
Smith  that  the  Company  wanted  all  his  time,  and 
was  going  to  have  it,  and  that  whether  on  duty  or  off 
it  would  not  allow  him  to  give  temperance  lectures. 
It  is  not  sufficient  to  answer  that  this  is  not  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Company ;  that  its  employees,  as  a  rule, 
are  allowed  to  go  to  what  church  they  think  best,  to 
take  part  in  Christian  Endeavor,  or  football,  or  what- 
ever they  may  prefer  as  the  occupation  of  their 
leisure.  The  fact  remains  that  the  Company  has, 
through  Mr.  Brady,  announced  its  right  to  check  a 


IOO  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

man,  if  it  chooses,  in  the  exercise  of  his  ordinary 
rights  and  duties  as  a  citizen  and  as  a  Christian,  and 
has,  by  sanctioning  Mr.  Smith's  dismissal  for  tem- 
perance lecturing,  formally  approved  Mr.  Brady's 
attitude.  The  Company  may  summon  to  its  defence 
any  other  reasons  for  Mr.  Smith's  dismissal  that  it 
chooses.  It  cannot  alter  the  fact  that  the  reason 
given  in  Mr.  Brady's  letters  is  the  one  which  was 
given  to  him,  and  which  was  the  real  cause  of  his 
act.  This  claim  of  a  soulless  Company  to  own  its 
employees,  body  and  soul,  is  one  of  the  most  daring 
and  intolerable  enunciations  of  what  is  in  the  lan- 
guage of  our  day  termed  wage  slavery  that  we  have 
seen,  and  one  for  which  the  great  public  will  proba- 
bly call  it  to  account.  The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
is  a  national  institution,  constructed  at  the  public 
expense,  and  a  ruling  influence  in  the  land,  and  its 
attitude  towards  the  liquor  question  and  the  rights  of 
employees  is  a  matter  of  national  interest,  open  to 
free  discussion  in  the  newspapers  and  in  the  parlia- 
ment, and  if  there  are  citizens  who,  for  the  purpose 
of  making  it  feel  in  its  only  sensitive  spot  how  it  has 
outraged  public  sentiment  and  done  a  public  wrong, 
are  willing  to  sink  their  private  advantage  and  con- 
venience in  the  public  good,  by  going  out  of  their 
way  to  patronize  another  road,  we  think  it  is  nothing 
but  right  that  the  railway  should  be  plainly  seized 
of  all  the  facts." 

The   comments  of  another  Canadian    paper,  the 
Toronto  Star,  are  thus  quoted  in  The  Templar : 


MORE  BITS  OP  PUBLIC  OPINION.  IOI 

"  It  is  a  most  regrettable  condition  of  affairs  when 
a  corporation  like  the  Canadian  Pacific  will  dismiss 
an  employee  because  he  is  active  in  the  cause  of  pro- 
hibition, yet  that  is  the  case  of  a  Mr.  Smith,  who  lost 
his  position  as  agent  at  Sutton  Junction,  Quebec, 
because  the  liquor  dealers  whom  he  opposed  had 
sufficient  influence  to  secure  his  dismissal. 

"No  charge  of  neglect  of  duty  could  be  made 
against  Mr.  Smith,  and  the  only  justification  the  Com- 
pany offered  was  the  plea  that  the  agent  should  give 
his  whole  time  to  the  Company,  and  do  nothing  to 
antagonize  the  interests  of  the  Company.  There  is 
in  this  no  claim  that  Mr.  Smith  had  ever  neglected 
his  duty,  and  the  whole  thing  narrows  down  to  the 
fact  that  he  had  incurred  the  enmity  of  the  liquor 
dealers,  who  induced  the  Company  to  dismiss  him. 
This  action  of  the  Company  may  please  the  men 
who  hired  a  thug  to  assault  Mr.  Smith,  and  nearly 
batter  his  life  out,  but  it  is  a  poor  way  to  make  friends 
of  peaceful  citizens.  It  speaks  poorly  for  personal 
liberty  when  a  man  is  dismissed  from  a  railway  be- 
cause he  opposes  the  liquor  traffic,  —  a  traffic  which 
the  Company  itself  acknowledges  to  be  wrong  when 
it  requires  its  employees  not  to  touch  liquor  while 
on  duty." 


In  The  Templar  of  November  2jd  appeared  these 
remarks  with  reference  to  one  paper  which  upheld 
the  C.  P.  R. : 


IO2  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

"  The  dismissal  of  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith  from  the  ser- 
vices of  the  C.  P.  R.,  because  he  was  obnoxious  to 
illicit  whiskey  sellers  in  Brome  County,  has  evoked 
strong  expression  of  disapproval  from  not  a  few  of 
the  papers  of  the  Dominion. 

"Others  have  preserved  a  silence,  or  feebly  and 
unfairly  stated  the  case,  not  daring  to  rebuke  the 
C.  P.  R.  So  far  as  we  know,  the  Hamilton  Spectator 
alone  has  had  the  courage  to  defend  the  gross  injus- 
tice done  a  fellow-citizen,  and  its  defence  is  peculiar. 

"Would  The  Spectator  permit  us  to  clear  the  issue? 
The  Templar^  in  giving  the  C.  P.  R.— Smith  corre- 
spondence to  the  public,  pointed  out  the  danger  to 
the  country  involved  in  suffering  the  C.  P.  R.  con- 
tention to  prevail.  If  that  corporation  can  justly  dis- 
miss a  man  because  he  employs  a  portion  of  his  time 
off  duty  to  demand  respect  for  the  law  of  the  land, 
on  the  ground  that  he  is  antagonizing  the  interests 
of  the  Company,  may  it  not  logically  demand,  under 
pain  of  dismissal,  that  he  shall  vote  as  the  Company 
judges  to  be  in  its  interests?  What  right  has  the 
citizen  that  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  may  not 
require  him  to  give  up  to  serve  its  ends?  Is  The 
Spectator  prepared  to  defend  such  tyranny,  and,  yes, 
we  will  say  it — treason  to  the  State?" 

Not  only  the  journals  of  the  Canadian  Interior,  but 
those  of  the  Maritime  Provinces  as  well,  showed  their 
interest  in  this  affair,  which  had  so  aroused  the  tem- 
perance people  of  Quebec  and  Ontario.  The  follow- 


MORE  BITS  OF  PUBLIC  OPINION.  1 03 

ing,  published    in   The  Templar,  is  taken  from   The 
Intelligencer,  Fredericton,  New  Brunswick: 

"We  have  set  out  the  facts  of  the  case  at  some 
length,  because  it  involves  much  more  than  the  posi- 
tion and  prospects  of  the  dismissed  official.  His 
case  is  certainly  a  hard  one.  It  is  not  denied  that 
for  fifteen  years  he  served  the  Railway  Company 
faithfully.  No  charge  of  neglect  of  duty  is  made 
against  him.  Even  the  charge  of  the  rumsellers, 
that  he  used  information  obtained  as  the  Company's 
officer  to  aid  in  their  prosecution,  is  not  proven. 
He  denies  it,  and  the  Assistant  Superintendent 
admits  that  he  has  failed  to  find  proof  of  it. 

"  But  in  spite  of  this,  the  Company,  yielding  to 
the  clamorings  of  the  rum  gang,  dismiss  an  officer 
against  whom  it  has  not  been  possible  to  make  any 
charge  of  neglect,  and  not  even  to  substantiate  the 
complaints  of  those  who  were  bent  upon  his  dis- 
missal. Mr.  Smith's  offense  was  that  he  was  too 
good  a  citizen  to  suit  the  views  of  the  outlaws  who 
are  engaged  in  the  illicit  rum-traffic.  They  sought 
to  take  his  life,  hiring  one  of  their  own  brutal  gang 
to  commit  the  murder.  The  attempt  was  made,  but 
failing  to  kill  him,  they  renewed  their  efforts  to  have 
him  dismissed.  And  in  this  they  were  more  suc- 
cessful. It  is  scarcely  possible  that  the  outlawed 
rumsellers  of  Brome  County  had  sufficient  influence 
alone,  to  accomplish  Mr.  Smith's  discharge.  They 
were  probably  backed  by  the  traffic  in  Montreal  and 
elsewhere.  And  this  goes  to  show  that  the  traffic  is 


IO4  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

one ;  that  distillers,  brewers,  wholesalers  and  saloon 
and  hotel  keepers  are  united ;  that  licensed  and  il- 
licit sellers  make  common  cause,  and  that  they  use 
their  awful  power  not  only  to  defy  all  laws  and  regu- 
lations which  hamper  them,  but  are  ready  to  rob  of 
their  means  of  livelihood,  and  their  good  name,  and 
even  to  murder  such  men  as  they  think  stand  in 
their  way.  These  are  things  which  might  be  ex- 
pected of  the  traffic.  But  it  is  quite  amazing  that  a 
great  corporation  like  the  C.  P.  R.  should  become  its 
ally.  Most  employers  would  stand  by  an  employee 
who  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  murderous  ruffians, 
because  of  his  sympathy  with  law  enforcement,  and 
the  promotion  of  the  moral  welfare  of  his  com- 
munity. But  the  Assistant  Superintendent  of  the 
C.  P.  R.,  under  whom  Mr.  Smith  worked,  was  not 
moved  by  such  consideration,  a  mere  sentimental 
consideration  he  wonld  probably  call  it.  He  pre- 
ferred to  cooperate  with  the  rum  traffic — to  become 
its  tool. 

"We  find  it  difficult  to  believe  that  the  General 
Manager  or  the  Directors  can  approve  the  dismissal 
of  an  employee  for  the  reason  stated  in  this  case. 
If  they  do,  then  men  interested  in  temperance  re- 
form can  no  longer  have  a  place  in  the  employ  of  the 
Company.  And  further,  the  Company  declares  its 
willingness  to  be  known  not  only  as  the  ally  of  the 
legalized  rum  traffic,  but  as  the  friend  and  helper  of 
the  outlaws  and  would-be  murderers  of  the  traffic. 

"This  case  should  not  be  allowed  to  fade  out 
of  the  memory  of  the  people.  It  asserts  the  right 


MORE  BITS  OF  PUBLIC  OPINION.  10$ 

of  an  employer,  not  only  to  the  time  of  the  em- 
ployee, but  to  his  conscience,  his  sense  of  the  duties 
of  good  citizenship,  and  his  self-respect.  If  per- 
mitted, unrebuked  and  uncorrected,  it  helps  to  estab- 
lish the  right  of  capital  to  do  any  unjust  and 
tyrannical  thing,  either  of  its  own  will  or  at  the  dic- 
tation of  the  conscienceless  rum  traffic,  or  of  other 
organized  evil. 

"There  ought,  certainly,  be  some  way  of  getting 
redress  for  what  on  the  face  of  it  appears  to  be  an 
act  of  cruel  injustice,  done  at  the  behest  of  the  rum 
traffic,  legal  and  illicit. 

"Not  those  alone  who  are  interested  in  temper- 
ance, but  every  man  who  believes  that  men  are  other 
than  serfs,  and  who  would  have  established  beyond 
question  the  right  of  a  man  to  have  his  own  con- 
science in  matters  which  relate  to  himself  and  the 
community,  should  be  concerned  to  make  impossible 
such  tyrannical  exercise  of  power." 

Not  only  the  Canadian,  but  some  of  the  American 
papers  also,  took  up  the  cry  of  tyranny,  as  is  shown 
by  the  following,  which  was  published  in  the  Presby- 
terian Observer,  Philadelphia,  and  repeated  in  the 
Montreal  Witness: 

"  A  Canadian  Railway  Company  has  been  guilty 
of  a  piece  of  mean  persecution  against  one  of  its 
agents  on  account  of  his  temperance  activity.  The 
station  master  at  Sutton  Junction,  of  the  Canadian 


IO6  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

Pacific  Railway,  in  the  Province  of  Quebec,  was  re- 
cently notified  that  he  '  must  quit  temperance  work, 
or  quit  the  Company.'  The  letter  further  states  the 
ground  upon  which  this  action  is  based.  '  It  makes  no 
difference  whether  you  are  on  duty  or  off  duty,  so  far 
as  this  Company  is  concerned.  They  demand  the 
whole  and  entire  time  of  their  men,  and  they  are 
going  to  have  it.'  Short,  sharp,  peremptory  this, 
but  is  also  a  high-handed  proceeding — an  infring- 
ment  upon  personal  rights.  It  does  not  appear  that 
this  man  had  been  derelict  in  duty  to  his  employers, 
or  that  he  took  the  time  that  belonged  to  them  in 
promoting  the  cause  of  temperance.  His  only  of- 
fence was  that,  while  conscientious  in  daily  work,  he 
thought  of  others,  and  labored  for  their  welfare  in 
his  spare  moments.  For  that  he  incurred  official 
reprobation,  and  was  given  the  choice  of  quitting 
temperance  work  or  the  Company. 

"The  railway  magnates  claimed  entire  control  over 
all  his  time,  whether  on  duty  or  off  duty,  demanding 
in  their  tautological  language,  'The  whole  and  entire 
time'  of  their  men,  and  bluffly  adding  that  'they  are 
going  to  have  it.'  They  would  leave  no  room  for 
doubt,  parley  or  protest.  Accordingly,  nothing  was 
left  a  man  of  conscience  but  to  retire  and  seek  em- 
ployment where  he  could  exercise  a  little  personal 
liberty.  It  is  no  new  thing  for  men  to  give  up  rail- 
way positions  on  conscientious  grounds,  when  com- 
pelled to  work  on  the  Sabbath,  but  this  is  the  first 
instance  we  have  known  where  a  Railway  Company 
has  forced  a  person  out  of  its  employ  because  of  his 


MORE  BITS  OP  PUBLIC  OPINION.  IO/ 

temperance  principles.  In  our  country,  other  things 
being  equal,  total  abstainers  are  preferred  by  rail- 
way men.  This  Canadian  Company  is  away  behind 
the  age." 

An  affair  like  this  must  indeed  be  very  widely  dis- 
cussed, and  awaken  considerable  interest,  when  the 
general  opinion  in  any  place  with  regard  to  it  is  pub- 
lished in  the  local  news  from  that  vicinity,  yet  the 
following  paragraph  appeared  among  other  items  in 
the  Witness  of  November  24th,  as  Danville  news: 

"  Railways  have  a  right  to  all  the  time  of  em- 
ployees in  hours  of  duty,  but  many  are  grieved  at  the 
action  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  in  demanding 
of  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith,  whom  they  dismissed  for  activ- 
ity in  the  temperance  cause,  that  he  must  not  give 
any  of  his  time  to  it  when  off  duty,  as  such  demand 
is  un-British  and  strongly  in  the  direction  of  serf- 
dom. Many  spirited  people  are  going  to  resent  the 
injustice." 

Various  associations  discussed  this  dismissal  in 
their  meetings,  and  passed  resolutions  concerning  it. 
The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  report,  which  ap- 
peared in  the  Witness  of  November  2Oth,  of  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Quebec  Evangelical  Alliance,  held  in  the 
city  of  Quebec  just  previous: 


IO8  THE   STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

"  It  was  also  voted  that  the  following  resolution  be 
placed  on  record,  and  a  copy  furnished  to  the  press 
for  publication: 

"'That  this  Alliance  voice  its  sympathy  through 
the  press  with  the  different  moral  and  religious  or- 
ganizations of  the  Province,  which  have  taken  action 
condemnatory  of  the  arbitrary  procedure  of  the  man- 
agement of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  in  the  dis- 
missal of  Mr.  Smith,  their  station  agent  at  Sutton 
Junction,  for  no  other  offence  than  that  of  being 
deeply  interested  in  the  moral  and  religious  welfare 
of  the  people  of  his  own  district. 

"'And  further,  that  this  Alliance  regrets  that  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  as  a  Company  subsidized 
by  the  Government  of  Canada,  should  see  fit  to  in- 
terfere with  the  civil  and  religious  rights  of  its  em- 
ployees, and  ally  itself  with  those  who  are  evading 
established  law,  and  doing  their  utmost  to  destroy 
social  order  in  this  country. 

" '  And  this  Alliance  is  of  the  opinion  that  if  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway  management  seriously  de- 
sires to  retain  the  sympathy  and  support  of  the  best 
element  in  the  community  in  building  up  their  busi- 
ness as  public  carriers,  they  will,  at  the  earliest  pos- 
sible moment,  do  full  justice  to  their  late  agent,  Mr. 
Smith.'" 

The  following,  also  published  in  the  Witness,  is 
from  a  report  of  the  meeting  of  a  temperance  society 
in  one  of  the  sister  Provinces : 


MORE  BITS  OP  PUBLIC  OPINION. 

"  PRESCOTT,  Ont.,  Dec.  5th. — The  forty-fifth  ses- 
sion of  the  Grand  Division  of  the  Sons  of  Temper- 
ance was  held  here  to-day.  The  question  of  the 
discharge  of  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith,  of  Sutton  Junction,  by 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  for  his  loyalty  to  the 
temperance  cause,  was  brought  up,  the  following  re- 
port of  a  special  committe  on  the  subject  being 
unanimously  adopted :  WHEREAS,  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith 
of  Sutton  Junction,  President  of  the  Brome  County 
Alliance,  in  the  Province  of  Quebec,  whose  attempted 
assassination  for  his  fidelity  to  law  and  order  is  a 
public  fact,  has  been  summarily  dismissed  from  his 
position  as  agent  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway, 
for  the  express  reason  of  his  advocacy  of  the  cause 
of  temperance,  this  Grand  Division  desires  to  express 
the  view  that  this  action  of  the  Railway  Company  is 
a  distinct  violation  of  the  rights  of  citizenship,  and 
deserves  strong  condemnation  as  being  tyrannical 
and  unjust  in  the  extreme,  and  is  calculated,  if  not 
redressed,  to  destroy  public  spirit  and  inflict  deep 
injury  to  the  civil  rights  of  the  people." 

We  will  now  look  at  some  of  the  opinions  of  indi- 
viduals, as  expressed  in  letters  sent  by  them  to  the 
temperance  papers. 

The  following  communication  was  sent  to  the  Wit- 
ness before  the  publication  of  Mr.  Brady's  letters. 
Doubtless,  the  writer  of  this  article  may,  after  read- 
ing those  letters,  have  entertained  some  doubts 
as  to  the  infallibility  of  the  opinions  here  expressed, 


I IO  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

but  they  show,  at  least,  how  impossible  it  seemed  to 
some  citizens  that  such  a  corporation  as  the  Cana- 
dian Pacific  Railway  could  oppose  temperance  ac- 
tivity on  the  part  of  its  employees.  The  letter, 
addressed  to  the  Editor  of  the  Witness,  is  as  follows : 

"SIR, — In  your  issue  of  October  Qth,  a  state- 
ment occurs  which  suggests  the  necessity  of  a  word 
of  caution.  The  following  is  the  sentence :  '  Some 
astonishing  revelations  may  be  expected,  as  the  tem- 
perance people  are  intensely  indignant  that  the  Com- 
pany should  have  yielded  to  the  demands  of  the 
liquor  party,  and  removed  from  its  service  one  who 
has  been  for  years  a  trusted  servant  and  faithful 
officer.'  From  a  personal  acquaintance  with  several 
gentlemen  who  control  the  appointment  of  officials 
of  this  and  similar  grades  of  office  in  connection 
with  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  I  wait  an  expla- 
nation of  this  act  of  executive  power  which  will  pre- 
sent it  in  an  altogether  different  light  from  that  in 
which  it  now  appears.  I  cannot  believe  that  officers 
of  any  Company,  transacting  business  with,  and  de- 
pendent upon,  the  public,  as  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  is,  would  descend  to  an  act  as  described  in 
the  case  in  hand.  What  the  explanation  will  be,  I 
will  not  conjecture,  but  I  can  easily  conceive  it  is 
susceptible  of  an  explanation  which  will  remove  all 
cause  of  censure  from  the  Company.  In  more  than 
one  instance,  I  have  known  the  officials  of  this  Com- 
pany to  firmly  support  an  employee  in  the  mainte- 


MORE  BITS  OF  PUBLIC  OPINION.  Ill 

nance  of  moral  principle,  even  at  a  financial  loss  to 
the  Company.  But,  apart  from  all  loyalty  to  right 
principle,  on  the  part  of  the  officiary  of  the  Com- 
pany, it  is  to  me  simply  inconceivable  that  shrewd 
business  men  as  these  officials  are  known  to  be  would 
be  guilty  of  an  act  which  from  a  purely  business 
point  of  view  would  be  a  stupidly  suicidal  one.  It 
taxes  one's  credulity  to  too  great  a  degree  to  ask  one 
to  believe  that,  in  view  of  the  recent  plebiscite  taken 
in  several  Provinces,  that  any  officer,  possessed  of 
mental  qualifications  sufficient  to  secure  a  position  of 
power  in  the  Company,  would  ally  himself  with  a 
coterie  of  lawbreakers  in  a  secluded  village,  and  per- 
petrate an  act  which  would  be  resented  by  thousands 
of  business  men  and  tens  of  thousands  of  the  travel- 
ling public  in  our  Dominion,  and  attach  a  stain  to 
the  name  of  the  Company  which  would  challenge 
contempt  for  years  future.  The  facilities  afforded 
by  other  competing  lines  at  so  many  points  in  our 
Dominion  for  such  as  would  resent  an  act  of  this 
character  are  too  great  to  permit  a  Company  that  is 
hungering  for  freight  and  passenger  traffic  to  yield 
to  such  inconsiderable  and  immoral  influences  as 
the  liquor  men  of  Button  Junction  and  their  sympa- 
thizers could  command.  The  Company  knows  well 
how  slight  a  matter  often  creates  a  prejudice  for  or 
against  a  railway  which  affects  its  dividends  for 
years,  and  they  know  well  also  that  when  an  act  of 
this  kind  is  actually  done  and  unearthed,  that  it  ap- 
peals to  principles  held  as  sacred  by  the  public  of 
our  Dominion.  They  also  know  that,  however  the 


112  THE  STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

temperance  ballot  holders  may  be  divided  in  their  po- 
litical allegiances,  in  a  matter  of  this  kind,  when  no 
political  ties  bind  them,  they  would  be  practically  a 
unit  in  resenting  an  act  not  only  tyrannical,  but  under 
the  circumstances  cowardly  and  immoral.  One  can- 
not believe  that  this  shrewd  Company  of  high- 
minded  and  acute  business  gentlemen  would  be 
guilty  of  the  folly  attributed  to  them.  Their  effort 
is  in  every  way  honorable  to  attract  their  own  line, 
and  it  is  past  belief  that  they  should  play  into  the 
hands  of  the  Grand  Trunk  and  other  competing 
lines  in  any  such  manner  as  the  accusation,  if 
proved,  would  mean.  Give  them  time  and  oppor- 
tunity for  an  explanation  before  any  expression  of  in- 
dignation manifests  itself,  and  especially  before  any 
hasty  and  inconsiderate  act  of  discrimination  against 
the  Company  is  made."  SPECTATOR. 

The  publication  of  the  correspondence  between 
Messrs.  Brady  and  Smith  brought  a  flood  of  letters 
from  the  public  to  the  Editor's  offices.  It  would  be 
scarcely  possible  in  this  place  to  give  all  the  letters 
which  appeared  in  the  various  papers,  but  we  qnote 
a  few.  The  following  is  from  the  Witness  of  Novem- 
ber 23d: 

"  SIR, — I  read  with  much  pleasure  the  letter  from 
'A  Total  Abstainer'  in  your  issue  of  November  4th, 
and  his  purpose  not  to  travel  by  the  C.  P.  R.  in 
future,  when  he  has  the  privilege  of  another  route. 


MORE  SITS  OF  PUBLIC  OPINION.  1 1 3 

I  would  like  to  assure  him  that  he  does  not  stand 
alone,  that  there  are  many  others  who  feel  just  as 
strongly.  It  was  only  to-day  that  I  learned  of  two 
persons  who,  at  some  inconvenience  to  themselves, 
took  passage  by  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  on  account  of 
the  way  in  which  the  Company  has  played  so  miser- 
ably into  the  hands  of  the  liquor  dealers;  and  I 
know  of  other  travellers  who  are  resolved  to  use  the 
C.  P.  R.  only  when  it  cannot  be  avoided.  I  am  in- 
formed that  some  of  the  temperance  organizations  to 
which  he  refers  are  not  going  to  let  the  matter  rest 
where  it  now  is,  but  will  manifest  their  indignation  in 
their  own  way  and  time. 

"  It  is  almost  beyond  belief  that  a  Company  like 
this  should  treat  a  servant  with  such  inhumanity. 

"After  being  almost  murdered  when  on  duty  by 
an  employed  agent  of  the  liquor  party,  and  when 
about  recovered  from  his  wounds,  he  is  dismissed 
from  the  service  for  taking  part  in  temperance  work 
in  his  own  time.  These  are  the  facts  as  stated  in  the 
published  correspondence,  and  they  need  only  to  be 
stated  to  call  forth  the  indignation  and  condemnation 
of  all  honorable  men. 

"ANOTHER  TOTAL  ABSTAINER." 


Another  letter,  published  in  the  Witness  of  Decem- 
ber 29th,  and  signed  "  Disinterested,"  is  given  below. 
The  allusion  to  the  queries  of  the  Alliance  and  the 


1 14  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

replies  of  the  Assistant  General  Manager  will  be  more 
fully  explained  in  the  next  chapter. 

"To  the  Editor  of  the  Witness: 

"SiR, — I  am  usually  of  moderate  temperament 
and  seldom  take  extreme  views  or  measures  on  any 
subject,  but  if  I  understand  rightly  the  present  state 
of  the  controversy  between  the  Dominion  Alliance 
and  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  unless  the  latter 
has  a  secret  compact  with  the  brewers,  distillers  and 
liquor  venders  of  this  county,  to  warrant  their  taking 
the  present  stand,  they  are  adopting  the  most  ex- 
traordinary course  of  any  corporation  seeking  public 
patronage  I  have  ever  known.  The  following  is,  as 
I  understand  it,  the  present  position  of  the  affair : 

"  i .    There  are  lawbreakers  in  the  county  of  Brome. 

"  2.  An  employee  of  the  C.  P.  R.  aids  in  detecting 
them,  and  bringing  them  to  justice. 

"3.  The  lawbreakers  hire  a  man  to  murder  him, 
who  fails  to  quite  accomplish  his  task. 

"  4.  The  employee,  in  his  hours  off  duty,  denounces 
the  practices  of  the  lawbreakers,  and  the  traffic  that 
creates  such  lawbreakers  and  murderers. 

"5.  A  district  superintendent  of  the  C.  P.  R.  in- 
forms him  that  for  so  doing  he  is  dismissed. 

"6.  The  Dominion  Alliance  asks  why  this  should 
be  so?  Is  it  not  interfering  with  the  liberty  of  the 
British  subject?  Is  not  slavery  revived  in  another 
form  for  an  employer  to  say  to  an  employee,  '  You 
must  not  express  an  opinion  on  any  subject  of  social 


MORE  BITS  OF  PUBLIC   OPINION.  \  \  5 

reform  or  otherwise  on  pain  of  being  dismissed  from 
my  employ.' 

"  7.  The  Assistant  General  Manager  comes  out  in 
a  two-column  letter  explaining  the  attitude  and  act 
of  the  C.  P.  R.  The  purport  of  that  letter  is  that  the 
man  who  antagonizes  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
community  is  therefore  .  .  .  less  useful  than  he  other- 
wise would  be  in  any  position  (such,  for  instance,  as 
a  station  agent)  in  the  employ  of  a  railway  company, 
whose  main  object  must  be  to  increase  the  business, 
from  every  possible  source,  and  who  must  be  careful 
not  to  antagonize  any  portion  of  the  community  upon 
whose  patronage,  as  a  part  of  the  general  public,  the 
success  of  the  Company  depends.  In  all  this  letter 
there  is  no  distinction  between  the  law-abiding  and 
lawbreaking  sections  of  the  community.  The  logical 
inference  of  the  whole  letter  is,  the  agent  at  Sutton 
antagonized  the  lawbreakers  of  Brome,  and  those  who 
abetted  their  doings,  and,  therefore,  the  superintend- 
ent of  the  road  was  justified  in  dismissing  him.  But 
by  that  act  the  superintendent  'antagonizes' a  very 
large  section  of  the  community,  stretching  from  Hali- 
fax to  Vancouver,  but  he  is  sustained  by  the  Com- 
pany in  his  act.  '  Consistency,  thou  art  a  jewel ! ' 
As  a  Canadian  I  have  felt  just  pride  in  the  C.  P.  R., 
I  have  advocated  its  claims  against  all  other  trans- 
continental routes,  especially  have  I  compared  it  with 
the  Grand  Trunk  Railway,  and  advised  my  friends  to 
patronize  the  former.  Now,  however,  as  a  free  and 
law-abiding  citizen  I  must,  on  principle,  change  my 
method  unless  Mr.  Tait,  or  some  one  else,  can  ex- 


Il6  THE   STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

plain  the  act  of  the  Company.  If  both  employees 
interested  in  the  Sutton  matter  had  been  dimissed,  I 
could  see  that  there  was  an  honest  effort  on  the  part 
of  the  Company  to  do  justly,  but  as  it  is  I  can  only 
see  underneath  all  this  the  intention  of  the  Company 
to  favor  the  lawbreakers  of  Brome  and  liquor  inter- 
ests generally  at  the  expense  of  the  temperance  and 
Christian  community.  If  my  views  are  wrong,  and 
anyone  will  do  me  the  kindness  to  correct  them,  I 
shall  owe  him  a  debt  of  gratitude ;  for  I  am  exceed- 
ingly loath  to  believe  such  things  of  the  management 
of  our  noble  Canadian  Pacific  Railway.  Until  then, 
however,  I  must  say  that  I  shall  not  travel  on  one 
mile  of  the  C.  P.  R.  when  I  can  take  another  line. 
I  am  constantly  on  the  road  between  Quebec  and 
Toronto,  with  headquarters  in  Montreal.  I  take  this 
stand  not  by  choice  nor  caprice,  but  on  the  princi- 
ples of  a  free  citizen." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  discussing 
the  same  subject,  published  in  The  Templar  of  Jan. 
4th,  1895,  and  signed  J.  W.  Shaw: 

"Without  giving  names,  let  me  state  what  I  have 
learned  directly  affecting  the  moneyed  interests  of  the 
C.  P.  R.  Thinking  of  visiting  a  certain  station  on 
one  of  their  lines  I  asked  a  friend  who  had  just  re- 
turned from  it:  'What  is  the  fare  to  that  place?' 
He  replied,  '  I  don't  know ;  I  never  buy  a  ticket ;  I 
can't  say.'  When  remonstrated  with,  he  just  said : 
'  I  pay  whatever  is  handy,  sometimes  more  and  some- 


MORE  BITS  OP  PUBLIC   OPINION. 

times  less ! '  Another  individual,  in  the  habit  of 
travelling  in  the  same  way,  and  boasting  of  his  smart- 
ness, casually  remarked :  '  My  trip  this  time  was  a 

failure,  for  Conductor was  on  the  train,  and 

you  know  I  could  not  work  him.'  It  did  me  good 
to  hear  that,  for  the  conductor  in  question  is  a  well- 
known  gospel  and  temperance  worker,  who  labors  as 
he  has  opportunity  for  the  uplifting  of  fallen  human- 
ity. On  this  low  plane  then  it  would  pay  these  com- 
panies to  employ  such  conductors,  and  give  them  all 
the  scope  required  outside  their  own  business.  Such 
employees  save  more  to  them  than  they  will  ever 
lose  through  the  fidelity  to  principle  of  any  Mr.  Smith. 
Sterling  honesty  of  principle  that  such  men  mani- 
fest, instead  of  proving  an  objection,  should  merit  the 
recognition  if  not  the  approval  of  the  wisest  directo- 
rate, and  should  denote  their  qualification  rather  than 
the  reverse." 

Part  of  another  letter,  which  was  signed  W.  J. 
Clark,  and  appeared  in  the  same  issue  of  The  Tem- 
plar•,  is  as  follows : 

"Now,  suppose  the  'section'  which  Mr.  Smith 
had  antagonized  had  been  the  temperance  people 
instead  of  the  liquor  element,  what  would  gentlemen 
Brady  and  Tait  have  said  then  if  the  matter  had  been 
brought  to  their  notice?  Would  they  have  dismissed 
Mr.  Smith?  I  trow  not.  They  would  in  all  likeli- 
hood have  attributed  the  complaint  to  what  they 
would  mentally  designate  as  a  handful  of  cranks,  and 
paid  no  attention  to  it.  But  when  the  liquor  element 


Il8  THE   STORY   OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

complains,  what  then?  Their  complaint  is  attended 
to  at  once.  Why?  Because  they  are  the  most  law- 
abiding  and  influential  section  of  the  community? 
No,  but  because  they  are  just  at  the  present  time  the 
most  powerful  section  of  the  community.  Do  not 
misunderstand  me.  I  do  not  mean  that  the  temper- 
ance people  of  our  land  have  not  the  balance  of 
power  in  their  own  hands.  They  certainly  have,  but 
they  do  not  make  use  of  it,  while  the  liquor  element 
use  what  power  they  have  for  all  it  is  worth.  The 
C.  P.  R.,  and  all  other  such  like  corporations  know 
full  well  this  state  of  affairs,  and  as  Mr.  Tait  says: 
'Their  objects  do  not  extend  beyond  the  promotion 
of  their  business,'  and  consequently  they  are  ready 
at  all  times  to  cater  to  the  commands  of  those  who 
are  making  their  power  felt  in  the  land,  and  to  ignore 
almost  entirely  the  wishes  of  those  who  have  the 
power,  but  fear  to  use  it.  Mr.  Editor,  what  are  the 
temperance  people  doing?  Are  we  sleeping  on 
guard?  It  seems  to  me  that  we  are.  How  many 
of  us,  after  reading  the  two  last  issues  of  The  Tevi- 
plar,  will  not  deliberately  step  on  board  of  a  C.  P.  R. 
train,  and  pay  our  money  to  that  corporation  when 
in  many  cases  we  could  just  as  conveniently  transfer 
our  patronage  to  some  other  road.  What  is  our  plain 
duty  in  the  case?  Is  it  not  to  show  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  that  we  are  a  power  in  the  land,  and 
that  we  intend  to  plainly  show  that  corporation  that 
the  rights  of  good  citizenship  are  not  to  be  trampled 
upon  with  impunity?  The  action  of  the  C.  P.  R.  in 
the  Smith  case  should  call  vividly  to  our  minds  the 


MORE  BITS  OF  PUBLIC  OPINION.  1 19 

action  of  the  Grand  Trunk  a  few  years  ago,  when 
they  discharged  their  agent  at  Richmond,  Que.,  be- 
cause he  openly  opposed  the  temperance  people." 

In  concluding  this  chapter,  we  will  give  the  opin- 
ion of  an  eminent  clergyman,  Rev.  J.  B.  Silcox,  as 
expressed  by  him  from  the  pulpit  of  Emanuel 
Church,  Montreal.  Nor  is  this  by  any  means  the 
only  voice  which  sounded  from  Canadian  pulpits  on 
the  same  subject.  The  Witness  of  December  3ist, 
1894,  has  the  following: 

"Referring  to  the  C.  P.  R.,  Mr.  Silcox  denounced 
it  vigorously  for  its  action  in  dismissing  an  employee 
because  he  saw  fit  to  fight  the  drink  traffic.  There 
was  nothing  in  the  world  so  heartless  as  a  great  cor- 
poration. The  C.  P.  R.  had  shown  itself  more  heart- 
less than  a  despotic  king.  It  had  come  to  a  sorry 
pass  when  an  employee  was  robbed  of  the  right  of 
exercising  his  own  free  will.  By  its  action  the  Com- 
pany had  thrown  all  its  weight  on  the  side  of  the 
liquor  party  to  which  it  catered.  He  had  lived  in 
the  Northwest  several  years,  and  had  seen  other  in- 
stances of  how  this  great  Company  had  ground  oth- 
ers under  its  iron  heel.  'In  discharging  the  man  I 
refer  to,  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  has  shown  that 
it  lays  claim  to  both  the  body  and  soul  of  its  em- 
ployees. In  the  history  of  this  country  did  you  ever 
hear  of  anything  more  shameful?  It  makes  one's 
blood  boil.  And  the  men  who  commit  these  acts 
can  boast  of  knighthood.  Alas  ! '  " 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   DOMINION   ALLIANCE   PROTEST. 

We  have  been  considering  some  of  the  opinions  of 
the  temperance  and  law-abiding  public  regarding  the 
dismissal  of  Mr.  VV.  W.  Smith.  However,  the  tem- 
perance people  were  not  all  content  with  simply  dis- 
cussing the  matter,  and  blaming  the  C.  P.  R.  for  the 
action  they  had  taken,  nor  even  with  transferring  their 
patronage  to  another  road.  The  Alliance  took  steps 
to  obtain  an  explanation  of  Mr.  Brady's  conduct  and 
the  policy  which  he  had  attributed  to  the  C.  P.  R., 
and  if  possible  to  gain  some  reparation  for  an  act 
which  seemed  to  them  unreasonable  and  unjust.  It 
was  stated  in  a  former  chapter  that  the  secretary  of 
the  Quebec  Provincial  Branch  had  been  instructed  to 
enquire  into  the  rumored  attempt  of  the  liquor  men  to 
secure  Mr.  Smith's  dismissal,  and  report  the  facts  in 
the  case  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Alliance.  His 
conclusions  after  this  enquiry  are  embodied  in  the 
following  letter,  dated  October  9th,  and  addressed  to 


THE  DOMINION  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  121 

"Thomas  Tait,    Esq.,  Assistant   General    Manager, 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway" : 

"DEAR  SIR, — I  herewith  return  the  correspond- 
ence concerning  Mr.  Smith  which  you  allowed  me 
to  have,  and  which  our  committee  very  carefully 
considered.  The  action  taken  by  your  Company  in 
dismissing  Mr.  Smith  from  his  position  as  your 
agent  at  Sutton  Junction,  notice  of  which  he  re- 
ceived on  Saturday  last,  October  6th,  renders  futile 
any  further  conference  between  the  Company  and 
this  Alliance  on  behalf  of  Mr.  Smith.  I  am,  how- 
ever, instructed  to  say  that  after  a  very  careful  con- 
sideration of  all  the  correspondence  referred  to  us, 
after  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  whole  matter, 
we  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  paramount 
reason  for  Mr.  Smith's  dismissal  is  his  activity  as  a 
temperance  man.  Your  Assistant  Superintendent  in 
his  letter  to  Mr.  Smith,  dated  September  7th,  makes 
this  as  clear  as  possible.  He  says :  '  You  must 
either  quit  temperance  work  or  quit  the  Company. 
It  makes  no  difference  whether  you  are  on  duty  or 
off  duty,  so  far  as  this  Company  is  concerned.  They 
demand  the  whole  and  entire  time  of  their  men,  and 
they  are  going  to  have  it.'  These  are  as  plain  words 
as  the  English  language  can  produce,  and  their 
meaning  cannot  be  misunderstood.  The  complaints 
made  subsequent  to  my  interview  with  you  on  the  1 9th 
of  September  have,  in  our  opinion,  the  appearance 
of  an  effort  to  find  a  reason  to  explain  the  one  given 
by  your  Asistant  Superintendent;  a  reason  which 


122  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

we  think  your  Company  will  find  exceedingly  diffi- 
cult to  sustain  at  the  bar  of  public  opinion  to  which 
it  must  now  go.  As  regards  these  recent  complaints, 
Mr.  Smith  has  never  seen  them.  He  has  never  been 
given  an  opportunity  to  deny  them,  or  offer  any  ex- 
planation. If  these  or  other  charges  of  a  similar 
character  are  the  essential  ones,  then  he  has  been 
condemned  without  a  hearing,  either  before  your 
superintendent  or  any  other  officer  of  the  Company. 
Mr.  Smith  informs  us  that  he  is  quite  prepared  to 
defend  himself  against  any  charge  of  neglect  of  duty 
or  unfaithful  service  to  the  Company.  His  record 
of  fifteen  years'  service  is  an  indication  that  as  a 
railroad  man  he  has  done  his  duty.  As  regards  the 
principal  charge,  the  charge  upon  which  his  resig- 
nation was  asked  for  by  your  Assistant  Superintend- 
ent in  the  letter  referred  to  above  in  the  following 
words :  '  I  was  in  hopes  you  would  relieve  the  strain 
by  gracefully  tendering  your  resignation,'  the  specific 
complaint  made  being  that  he  had  on  the  evening  of 
September  3d,  delivered  a  temperance  lecture.  To 
this  charge  he  pleads  guilty,  and  now  suffers  the 
consequences,  viz.,  dismissal  and  pecuniary  loss. 

"This  Alliance,  as  representing  the  temperance 
people  of  this  Province,  protests  in  the  most  em- 
phatic manner  against  this  act  of  obvious  injustice  to 
one  of  our  number ;  an  act  which  we  have  every 
reason  to  believe  to  be  the  result  of  a  concerted 
plan  to  use  your  Company  to  injure  and  if  possible 
render  nugatory  the  temperance  work  of  the  people 
of  Brome  County,  who,  for  very  many  years,  have 


THE  DOMINION  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  12$ 

been  endeavoring  to  uphold  and  enforce  the  law  of 
the  land,  which  declares  that  no  intoxicating  liquor 
shall  be  sold  within  the  bounds  of  that  county. 

"In  this  effort,  they  did  not  expect  to  have  the 
powerful  influence  of  your  Company  turned  against 
them,  and,  therefore,  feel  keenly  and  with  intense  re- 
gret this  action  in  regard  to  Mr.  Smith,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Brome  County  Alliance !  You  will 
readily  understand  that  we  cannot  allow  this  matter 
to  drop,  and,  therefore,  have  taken  steps  to  bring  the 
whole  matter  before  another  tribunal. 

"  I  am,  dear  sir,  respectfully  yours, 

"J.  H.  Carson,  Sec'y." 

On  October  i6th,  a  meeting  of  the  executive  of 
the  Quebec  Provincial  Alliance  was  held  in  Mon- 
treal, for  the  purpose  of  considering  affairs  relating 
to  this  dismissal.  Mr.  Carson  reported  the  corre- 
spondence which  he  had  had  with  Mr.  Tait,  and  the 
Executive,  having  unanimously  approved  Mr. 
Carson's  letters,  adopted  the  following  resolution : 

"  WHEREAS,  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith,  the  President  of 
the  Brome  County  Alliance,  has  been  dismissed  from 
his  position  as  agent  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Rail- 
way, and  whereas  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  his 
dismissal  has  been  brought  about  because  of  his 
temperance  activity,  and  not  because  of  dereliction 
of  duty:  Resolved*  That  this  Alliance  will  stand  by 
Brome  County  Alliance  in  any  action  it  may  take 


124  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

under  the  advice  of   our  solicitors  to  vindicate  the 
reputation  of  Mr.  Smith." 

At  this  meeting  also,  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  whom  the  correspondence  in  the  hands  of  the 
secretary  should  be  referred  for  whatever  action 
they  might  deem  best. 

On  October  26th,  a  meeting  of  the  Brome  County 
Alliance  was  held  at  which  the  dismissal  was  also 
considered.  Some  members  of  the  Provincial 
Alliance  from  Montreal  were  present  at  this  meeting. 

On  December  22d,  the  following  appeared  among 
the  Witness  editorials : 

"The  dismissal  of  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith,  the  Canadian 
Pacific  station  agent  at  Sutton  Junction,  for  law  and 
order  work  in  a  prohibition  county,  and  specifically 
for  delivering  a  temperance  lecture,  is  still  a  live 
subject.  The  Dominion  Alliance,  as  whose  officer 
Mr.  Smith  committed  the  offences  for  which  he  suf- 
fers, naturally  protested  to  the  Company,  and  ap- 
pealed to  the  public  against  this  assault  on  the 
liberties  of  their  workers.  The  Company,  we  under- 
stand, thinks  it  only  fair  that  its  reply  to  the  Alli- 
ance's protest  should  be  published  as  widely  as  that 
protest  was,  and  this  we  think  entirely  reasonable, 
whatever  may  be  said  of  the  merits  of  that  reply, 
which  does  not  seem  to  us  to  make  the  matter  any 
better.  After  being  duly  presented  to  a  meeting  of 


THE  DOMINION  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  125 

the  Alliance  committee,  and  then  referred  to  Mr. 
Smith,  against  whom  it  raises  new  charges,  it  is  now 
with  the  consent  of  all  parties  published,  and  it  will 
be  forwarded  to  all  the  temperance  organizations  for 
their  information.  It  occupies  a  good  deal  of  room, 
but  will  be  read  with  extreme  interest  as  showing 
just  how  a  money  corporation  looks  on  the  liberties 
of  its  servants." 

The  reply  referred  to  in  this  article  as  being  that 
made  by  the  C.  P.  R.  to  the  letter  of  Mr.  Carson, 
which  we  quoted  above,  is  as  follows : 

"J.  H.  Carson,  Esq., 

"  Secretary  Dominion  Alliance,  Montreal. 

"DEAR  SlR, — Your  letter  of  November  9th  reached 
me  in  due  course.  I  have  been  somewhat  disin- 
clined for  several  reasons  to  take  part  in  any  further 
correspondence  on  the  subject,  but  upon  further  re- 
flection I  have  decided  to  point  out  to  you  in  writing, 
as  I  have  already,  on  two  or  three  occasions,  done 
verbally,  that  the  termination  of  Mr.  Smith's  engage- 
ment with  this  Company  did  not  take  place  by  the 
reasons  assigned  by  you  in  that  letter.  You  say, 
'  We  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  paramount 
reason  for  Mr.  Smith's  dismissal  is  his  activity  as  a 
temperance  man.'  Whether  intentionally  or  unin- 
tentionally, this  language  is  framed  so  as  to  convey 
the  meaning  that  the  Company  objected  to  the  prin- 
ciples (namely,  temperance  principles)  which  were 
advocated  by  Mr.  Smith.  Nothing  could  be  further 


126  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

from  the  truth.  If  Mr.  Smith  had  been  as  much 
occupied  in  abusing  temperance  principles  as  he  was 
in  advocating  them,  the  objection  would  have  been 
not  only  as  great,  but  greater.  It  must  be  manifest 
to  every  business  man  in  the  community  that  every 
railway  company,  and,  indeed,  every  other  business 
organization  employing  large  numbers  of  workmen, 
is  most  emphatically  in  favor  of  temperance ;  so 
much  so  that  in  the  case  of  our  Company  I  feel  con- 
vinced that  its  influence  in  favor  of  temperance  and 
the  prevention  of  the  improper  use  of  intoxicating  liq- 
uors is  ten  thousand  times  more  than  that  of  Mr.  Smith 
or  any  other  individual,  in  fact,  it  is  probably  one 
of  the  most  powerful  factors  in  that  direction  in 
Canada. 

"Our  Company  has  for  many  years  past  done 
what  is  not  often  done  by  property  owners.  We 
have  declined  to  sell  our  lands  at  different  stations 
along  our  line,  except  under  conditions  which  pre- 
vents the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  on  the  premises, 
and  which  have  the  effect  of  depriving  the  buyer  of 
his  title  to  the  property  in  case  that  stipulation  is 
broken.  In  addition,  we  have  had  for  many  years 
past,  amongst  the  rules  and  regulations  governing  all 
our  employees,  the  following  rule : 

" '  Use  of  Liquor. — The  continued  or  excessive 
periodical  use  of  malt  or  alcoholic  liquors  should  be 
abstained  from  by  every  one  engaged  in  operating 
the  road,  not  only  on  account  of  the  great  risks  to 
life  and  property  incurred  by  entrusting  them  to  the 
oversight  of  those  whose  intellects  may  be  dulled  at 


THE  DOMINION  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  I2/ 

times  when  most  care  is  needed,  but  also,  and  espe- 
cially, because  habitual  drinking  has  a  very  bad  effect 
upon  the  constitution,  which  is  a  serious  matter  to 
men  so  liable  to  injury  as  railway  employees  always 
are.  It  so  lessens  the  recuperative  powers  of  the 
body  that  simple  wounds  are  followed  by  the  most 
serious  and  dangerous  complications.  Fractures 
unite  slowly,  if  at  all,  and  wounds  of  a  grave  nature, 
such  as  those  requiring  the  loss  of  a  limb,  are  al- 
most sure  to  end  fatally.  No  employee  can  afford 
to  take  such  risks,  and  the  Railway  Company  cannot 
assume  such  responsibilities.'  This  rule  has,  in  fact, 
been  revised  within  the  last  few  months,  and  couched 
in  more  prohibitory  language,  and  will  shortly  be  is- 
sued to  the  employees  in  that  form.  Along  our  line 
there  are  thousands  of  its  officials  who  are  every  day 
insisting  on  the  practice  of  temperance.  They  deal 
with  the  engagement  of  subordinates  and  the  con- 
duct and  efficiency  of  persons  in  our  employment  in 
such  a  way  as  to  show  that  temperance  is  indispen- 
sable to  the  efficiency  of  our  employees,  to  the  con- 
duct of  the  Company's  business,  and  to  the  success 
and  promotion  of  the  workmen  themselves,  but  this  is 
done  in  respect  of  matters  which  are  entirely  within 
their  jurisdiction  as  officers  of  the  Company. 

"There  are,  unfortunately,  many  questions  upon 
which  the  public  hold  different  opinions  so  strongly 
that  they  are  virtually  divided  into  opposing  classes, 
and  it  is  impossible  for  any  one  prominently  and 
publicly  to  advocate  either  side  of  any  of  these  ques- 
tions, without  immediately  raising  a  strong  feeling  of 


128  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

opposition  in  a  considerable  portion  of  the  commu- 
nity, who  take  the  opposite  side.  These  questions 
are  of  different  kinds,  religious,  political,  social,  racial, 
etc. ;  and  it  must  be  apparent  that  no  matter  how 
well  founded  any  person's  views  may  be  on  any  of 
these  questions,  if  he  devotes  himself  energetically  to 
the  promulgation  and  advocacy  of  his  views  at  pub- 
lic meetings,  lectures,  etc.,  he  will  without  fail  antag- 
onize a  considerable  section  of  the  community.  It 
is,  therefore,  apparent  to  every  business  man  that 
any  person  who  adopts  this  course  at  once  renders 
himself  less  useful  than  he  would  otherwise  be  in  any 
position  (such,  for  instance,  as  a  station  agent)  in 
the  employment  of  a  Railway  Company,  whose  main 
object  must  be  to  increase  its  business  from  every 
possible  source,  and  who  must  be  careful  not  to  an- 
tagonize any  portion  of  the  community  upon  whose 
patronage,  as  part  of  the  general  public,  the  success 
of  the  Company  depends.  Illogically,  and  perhaps 
unfortunately,  there  are  many  persons  in  every  com- 
munity who  hold  the  employer  answerable  for  the 
public  advocacy  of  the  views  of  the  persons  in  his 
employment,  even  when  disconnected  with  the  busi- 
ness of  the  employer.  This  ought  not  to  be  the  case, 
but  as  undeniably  it  is  the  case,  it  follows  that  the 
usefulness  of  an  employee  is  with  certainty  dimin- 
ished, and  perhaps  destroyed,  when  he  gives  much 
of  his  attention  and  some  of  his  time  to  advocating 
his  personal  views  at  public  meetings,  lectures,  etc., 
upon  either  side  of  any  question  upon  which  the 
public  is  divided  in  the  way  I  have  before  mentioned, 


THE  DOMINION  ALLIANCE  PROTEST,  1 29 

and  this,  although  he  do  so  only  during  the  hours  of 
the  day  when  he  is  not  supposed  to  be  in  the  active 
service  of  his  employer.  As  far  as  I  am  able  to 
judge,  no  official  of  our  Company,  of  whose  duties 
one  is  to  solicit  and  secure  traffic  for  the  Company, 
could  take  sides  on  any  of  these  questions  at  public 
meetings  and  lectures  without  impairing  his  usefulness 
to  the  Company.  Taken  by  themselves,  and  with- 
out regard  to  the  circumstances,  some  of  the  expres- 
sions in  Mr.  Brady's  letters  to  Mr.  Smith  are  capable 
of  misinterpretation,  and,  as  I  have  stated  to  you  on 
several  occasions,  do  not  meet  with  the  Company's 
approval,  as  they  do  not  express  correctly  its  policy 
on  the  subject.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  in  our 
mind,  as  I  have  already  assured  you,  that  throughout 
this  unfortunate  affair  Mr.  Brady  was  only  intent  on 
protecting  the  Company's  interests  by  preventing 
unnecessary  hostility,  and  at  the  outset  on  saving 
Mr.  Smith  himself  from  trouble. 

"  I  have  already  shown  you  correspondence  from 
different  persons  containing  statements  concerning 
Mr.  Smith,  which,  if  true,  indicate  the  impossibility 
of  any  person  being  able  to  give  thorough  and  effi- 
cient service  to  any  railway  company,  whilst  he  pub- 
licly advocates  views  on  either  side  of  any  question 
such  as  I  have  referred  to,  upon  which  the  public  is 
divided.  But  the  matters  referred  to  in  that  corre- 
spondence are  insignificant  compared  with  the  taking 
in  public  an  active  part  on  either  side  of  such  moot 
questions  as  I  have  referred  to.  The  conclusion  that 
Mr.  Smith's  usefulness  was  gone,  does  not  depend  on 


I3O  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

the  truth  or  untruth  of  them ;  it  was  therefore  not 
necessary  or  proper  to  discuss  them  further  with  Mr. 
Smith  upon  the  theory  that  they  were  material  to  the 
question  whether  he  should  continue  or  not  in  the 
Company's  service.  As,  however,  in  your  letter  you 
refer  to  the  complaints  covered  by  that  correspond- 
ence as  having  the  '  appearance  of  an  effort  to  find  a 
reason  to  explain  the  one  given  for  Mr.  Smith's  dis- 
missal/ and  as  you  have  returned  this  correspond- 
ence to  me,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  for  me  to 
refresh  your  memory  as  to  some  of  the  points  cov- 
ered by  it.  Mr.  Stewart,  the  Superintendent  of  the 
Dominion  Express  Company,  wrote  Mr.  Brady,  from 
Montreal,  on  September  29th  as  follows : 

"  'Route  Agent  Bowen  informs  me  that  when  visit- 
ing Sutton  Junction  this  week,  he  found  F.  G.  Sin- 
clair in  charge  of  the  station,  and  doing  the  work  in 
Mr.  Smith's  name.  Mr.  Smith  had  gone  away  with- 
out giving  us  notice.  He  did  not  give  the  new  agent 
the  combination  of  the  safe,  and  carried  away  our 
revolver  for  his  protection,  instead  of  leaving  it  at  the 
station  to  protect  our  property.  Mr.  Bowen  suc- 
ceeded in  finding  Smith,  and  getting  the  revolver, 
and  also  had  the  combination  of  the  safe  changed 
and  given  to  the  new  agent.  I  may  say  that  Mr. 
Smith  had  given  the  relieving  agent  the  combination 
of  the  outside  door  of  the  safe  only,  which  left  us 
without  any  better  protection  than  an  ordinary  fire- 
proof safe,  and  we  sometimes  have  very  large  amounts 
of  money  to  carry  over  night.  This  is  just  about  in 
keeping  with  all  Mr.  Smith's  work.  Unless  we  can 


THE  DOMINION  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  131 

be  assured  of  better  protection  at  Sutton  Junction,  we 
will  have  to  make  different  arrangements  in  regard  to 
handling  our  money  for  the  Northern  division,  by 
transferring  the  fire  and  burglar  proof  safe  at  Sutton 
Junction  to  Fosters,  and  make  the  money  transfer  at 
that  point  instead  of  at  Sutton  Junction. 

'"Of  course,  it  will  be  absolutely  necessary  to 
transfer  some  money  at  the  Junction  at  all  times,  but 
bank  packages,  etc.,  will  have  to  be  sent  by  the  other 
route  for  our  protection. 

" '  Route  Agent  Bowen  reports  the  present  agent 
is  attending  carefully  to  our  business.  If  the  old 
agent  will  be  re-appointed  I  would  be  glad  of  a  few 
days'  notice  so  we  can  make  different  arrangements 
in  the  interest  of  this  Company.' 

"You  will  remember  from  the  correspondence  that 
Mr.  O.  C.  Selby  wrote  to  Mr.  Brady  that  he  had 
the  combination  of  the  outside  door  of  the  safe,  and 
that  the  combination  of  the  inside  door,  which  should 
also  have  been  used,  was  not  used  from  the  time  Mr. 
Selby  started  work  (October,  1893)  until  June  last; 
that  Mr.  Smith  was  often  absent  from  the  office  dur- 
ing the  day,  frequently  remaining  there  only  half  an 
hour. 

"You  will  remember  also  that  Mr.  J.  O'Regan,  the 
operator  at  Sutton  Junction,  stated  in  writing  that  he 
had  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Smith,  who  desired  to  ab- 
sent himself  from  duty,  worked  in  the  latter's  place 
on  the  afternoon  and  evening  previous  to  the  assault, 
and  that  on  several  occasions  he  had  been  left  in 
charge  of  the  station  during  Mr.  Smith's  absence. 


132  THE   STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

In  this  connection  you  will  remember  that  I  informed 
you  that  on  the  occasion  first  referred  to,  and  that  on 
some,  if  not  all,  of  the  previous  occasions,  Mr.  Smith 
had  absented  himself  from  duty  without  permission. 
I  believe  that  it  was  admitted  by  Mr.  Smith  himself, 
at  the  trial,  that  when  he  was  assaulted  he  was  asleep, 
although  at  that  time  he  should  have  been  on  duty 
as  operator. 

"You  will  also  recollect  that  Mr.  Smith,  having 
applied  through  Detective  Carpenter  to  Mr.  Brady 
for  leave  of  absence  to  go  to  New  Marlboro,  Mass., 
for  the  purpose  of  identifying  one  of  his  assailants, 
and  having  obtained  such  leave  of  absence,  and  a 
pass  to  Newport  and  return,  remained  absent  from 
duty  for  ten  days  after  his  return  from  New  Marl- 
boro, without  communicating  with  Mr.  Brady,  and 
that  it  was  while  he  was  so  absent  without  leave  that 
he  delivered  a  temperance  lecture  at  Richford. 

"  It  is  not  customary  with  this  Company  to  discuss 
with  persons  not  directly  interested  the  reasons  for 
discharging,  punishing,  rewarding  or  otherwise  deal- 
ing with  its  men,  but  you  will  recollect  that  in  this 
case  an  exception  was  made,  and  that  I  offered  you 
every  facility,  including  free  transportation  over  our 
line,  if  you  would,  by  visiting  localities  in  which 
Messrs.  Smith  and  Brady  were  known,  satisfy  your- 
self as  to  the  propriety  of  Mr.  Smith's  discharge,  and 
it  will  also  be  within  your  memory  that  I  offered  to 
arrange  a  meeting  between  yourself  and  Mr.  Brady, 
or,  if  it  was  desired,  to  meet  your  committee  myself 
to  discuss  the  matter,  None  of  these  offers  was  taken 


THE  DOMINION  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  133 

advantage  of,  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  none  of  the  sug- 
gestions made  were  followed. 

"  It  is  not,  however,  as  I  have  said,  necessary  to  go 
into  these  details  in  order  to  support  the  conclusion 
that  Mr.  Smith's  usefulness  as  agent  for  the  Cana- 
dian Pacific  Railway  Company  is  over.  The  Com- 
pany is  carrying  on  the  business  of  a  railway  company, 
and  its  objects  do  not  extend  beyond  the  promotion 
of  that  business.  Its  success  depends  upon  the  favor 
and  patronage  of  the  community  at  large,  and  if  one 
of  its  officers  or  employees  so  conducts  himself  as  to 
antagonize  a  section  of  the  community,  or  even  in  a 
manner  which  is  likely  to  bring  about  that  result,  the 
Company's  interests  are  injuriously  affected,  and  the 
Company  will  naturally  do,  what  every  business  man 
would  do,  namely,  protect  its  interests  by  his  removal. 
"Yours  truly,  THOS.  TAIT, 

"  Assistant  General  Manager. 

"Montreal,  Dec.  6tht 


It  will  be  noticed  that  in  this  letter  Mr.  Tait,  refer- 
ring to  the  acts  of  officials,  "  who  are  every  day  in- 
sisting on  the  practice  of  temperance,"  says  :  "  But 
this  is  done  in  respect  of  matters  which  are  entirely 
within  their  jurisdiction  as  officers  of  the  Company." 
The  implication  plainly  is  that,  while  officers  of  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway  have  a  right  to  insist  upon 
sobriety  among  the  employees  of  the  Company,  they 
have  not  a  right  to  engage  in  any  other  form  of  tem- 


134  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

perance  work.  That  all  Mr.  Smith's  work  for  the 
cause  was  within  his  jurisdiction  as  an  officer  of  the 
Alliance,  and  a  free  citizen  is  not  taken  into  consid- 
eration, and  it  appears  that  no  employee  of  the  Can- 
adian Pacific  Railway  is  supposed  to  have  a  right  to 
accept  any  offices  or  perform  any  duties  outside  the 
Company's  services. 

Mr.  Tail  does  not  condemn  the  position  taken  by 
his  Assistant  Superintendent,  on  the  contrary  he  very 
plainly  takes  the  same  position  himself,  and  simply 
disapproves  of  some  of  Mr.  Brady's  expressions. 
This  reminds  us  of  what  is  told  of  some  parents  who 
are  said  to  punish  their  children,  not  for  evil  doing 
but  for  getting  found  out.  If  Mr.  Brady  had  con- 
cealed the  motive  for  his  act  so  as  to  prevent  any 
complaints  from  the  public,  the  Company,  according 
to  Mr.  Tait's  letter,  would  have  had  no  objection  to 
the  dismissal  of  an  employee  simply  for  temperance 
activity. 

To  the  above  letter  Mr.  Carson  made  the  follow- 
ing reply,  which  was  published  in  the  same  issue  of 
the  Witness: 

"December  2 1st,  1894. 
"T.  Tait,  Esq.,  Asst.  General  Manager,  C.  P.  R. : 

"DEAR  SIR, — Your  letter  of  December  6th  has 
had  the  attention  of  the  Alliance  Committee,  which 


THE  DOMINION  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  13$ 

takes  great  pleasure  in  hearing  of  the  stand  taken  by 
your  Company  in  various  ways  in  behalf  of  temper- 
ance, the  wisdom  of  which  will  commend  itself  to  all. 
When,  however,  you  say  Mr.  Smith  was  not  dis- 
missed for  the  reason  assigned  in  my  letter  to  you, 
namely,  his  activity  as  a  temperance  man,  you  deny 
what  seems  to  be  admitted  in  the  whole  of  the  rest 
of  your  letter.  This  was,  as  the  correspondence 
shows,  the  only  reason  conveyed  to  Mr.  Smith  as  the 
cause  of  his  dismissal.  My  letter  did  not  allege,  nor 
was  it  intended  to  convey  the  impression,  that  the 
Company's  action  was  due  to  its  objection  to  the 
principles  held  by  Mr.  Smith,  but  that  it  was  due  to 
his  activity  in  advocating  those  principles. 

"You  have  at  considerable  length  set  forth  that 
what  the  Company  objects  to  is,  that  an  employee 
of  the  Company  should  actively  take  sides  on  a  ques- 
tion on  which  the  community  is  divided,  even  'al- 
though he  do  so  only  during  the  hours  of  the  day 
when  he  is  not  supposed  to  be  in  the  active  service 
of  his  employer,'  and  you  add  that  'no  official  of  our 
Company,  one  of  whose  duties  is  to  solicit  and  secure 
traffic  for  the  Company,  could  take  sides  on  any  of 
these  questions  at  public  meetings  and  lectures  with- 
out impairing  his  usefulness  to  the  Company.'  This  is 
precisely  the  position  taken  by  Mr.  Brady  in  his  cor- 
respondence with  Mr.  Smith,  and  it  is  against  this 
position,  to  which  the  Company  through  you  pleads 
guilty,  that  we,  in  the  name  of  the  temperance  peo- 
ple of  Canada,  protest,  implying  as  it  does  a  condi- 
tion of  servitude  to  the  liquor  interest  on  the  part  of 


136  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

a  national  institution  dependent  upon  the  public 
patronage  for  support,  which  insults  all  that  is  best 
in  our  public  opinion,  and  insisting  as  it  does  on  a 
condition  of  ignoble  slavery  on  the  part  of  the  em- 
ployees of  the  Company.  You  refer  to  the  matter 
in  which  Mr.  Smith  was  regarded  as  over-active  as  a 
moot  question. 

"  Whether  men  should  be  required  to  observe  the 
law  of  the  land,  or  be  punished  for  violating  it,  is,  we 
submit,  not  a  moot  question.  On  the  contrary,  we 
hold  it  the  duty  of  every  loyal  citizen  to  uphold  law, 
and  render  such  assistance  as  lies  in  his  power  to 
secure  its  enforcement. 

"With  regard  to  the  later  charges  against  Mr. 
Smith,  parenthetically  enumerated  in  your  letter,  you 
say  they  are  insignificant,  and  that,  therefore,  '  it  was 
not  necessary  or  proper  to  discuss  them  further  with 
Mr.  Smith.'  If  so,  we  may  also  be  excused  from 
discussing  them.  We  have  given  Mr.  Smith  com- 
munication of  your  letter,  that  he  may  reply  to  these 
if  he  sees  best. 

"Referring  to  your  kind  offer  of  free  transporta- 
tion over  your  line,  to  visit  the  localities  in  which 
Messrs.  Smith  and  Brady  were  known,  and  satisfy 
myself  as  to  the  propriety  of  Mr.  Smith's  discharge, 
I  might  say  that  I  did  visit  those  localities  without 
accepting  the  offer  of  free  transportation,  which  ac- 
counts for  your  not  knowing  of  my  visit  to  Brome 
County.  As  the  result  of  that  visit  I  was  still  better 
informed  as  to  the  operation  of  the  occult  influence 
which  had  brought  about  Mr.  Smith's  dismissal. 


THE  DOMINION  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  137 

"Your  offer  to  meet  our  committee  and  discuss  the 
question  was  rendered  nugatory  by  the  dismissal  of 
Mr.  Smith. 

"In  the  management  of  your  Company  it  is  not 
our  part  to  interfere,  but  when  an  employee  of  your 
Company  is  dismissed,  as  alleged  by  the  Assistant 
Superintendent,  and  now  confirmed  by  yourself,  for 
publicly  advocating  those  principles  which  this  Alli- 
ance is  organized  to  promote,  and  for  promoting  the 
observance  of  the  laws  of  his  country,  it  is  right  for 
us  to  express  to  you  the  protest  of  a  very  large  por- 
tion of  the  people  of  Canada,  and  their  indignation  at 
seeing  one  of  their  number  thus  suffer  for  conscience 
sake.  It  is,  of  course,  for  the  Company  to  judge  how 
best  to  promote  its  own  business,  but  when  so  large 
a  portion  of  the  public  as  those  who  support  temper- 
ance laws  and  seeks  their  enforcement  is  openly 
snubbed  in  the  interests,  and  it  would  seem  at  the 
instance,  of  illicit  and  murderous  dealers  in  a  contra- 
band article,  from  the  transport  of  which  your  Com- 
pany seeks  profit,  we  may  fairly  ask  the  question 
whether  the  Company  is  acting  even  the  part  of 
worldly  wisdom.  Your  declaration  that  if  one  of  the 
Company's  officers  or  employees  so  conducts  himself 
as  to  antagonize  a  section  of  the  community,  or  even 
in  a  manner  which  is  likely  to  bring  about  that  result, 
the  Company's  interests  are  injuriously  affected,  and 
the  Company  will  naturally  do  what  every  business 
man  would  do,  namely,  '  protect  its  interests  by  his 
removal,'  is  definite  and  distinct,  and  seems  to  apply 
to  the  definite  attitude  assumed  towards  the  advo- 


138  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

cates  of  temperance  by  your  Assistant  Superintend- 
ent. His  conduct  is  certain  to  be  remembered  with 
resentment  all  over  Canada,  so  long  as  his  continu- 
ance in  office  and  the  endorsement  of  his  act  are  the 
index  of  the  policy  of  your  Company. 
"  I  remain,  dear  sir, 

"  Very  respectfully  yours, 

"J.  H.  CARSON,  Secretary." 

As  stated  by  Mr.  Carson,  Mr.  Tait's  letter  was  for- 
warded to  Mr.  Smith,  that  he  might  reply  to  its  ac- 
cusations if  he  saw  fit.  Accordingly,  he  wrote  to  the 
Editor  of  the  Witness  as  follows : 

"  SIR, — I  desire,  in  replying  to  the  complaints 
made  against  me  in  Mr.  Tait's  letter,  addressed  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Dominion  Alliance,  to  say  that,  so 
far  as  these  complaints  are  concerned,  this  is  the  first 
time  I  have  seen  them,  and  I  have  never  been  asked 
by  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  to  offer  any  expla- 
nation, nor  have  I  been  given  an  opportunity  to  deny 
the  correctness  of  the  charges  made  against  me. 

"With  regard  to  the  letter  of  Mr.  Stewart,  of  the 
Dominion  Express  Company,  I  have  this  to  say: 
This  complaint,  in  the  first  place,  was  only  made 
three  weeks  after  Mr.  Brady  had  requested  me  to 
tender  my  resignation,  for  the  specific  reason  given 
in  his  letter,  so  that  it  could  not  have  had  any  con- 
nection with  the  real  cause  of  my  dismissal. 

"When  I  was  assaulted  on  July  8th,  I  wired  Mr. 


THE  DOMINION  ALLIAXCE  PROTEST.  139 

Stewart  that  I  was  unable  to  work,  and  asked  him  if 
I  should  give  the  combination  of  the  inside  door  of 
the  safe  to  the  man  in  charge.  I  received  no  reply. 
Mr.  Stewart  knew  perfectly  well  that  I  was  sick  in 
bed,  and  that  it  was  his  duty  to  send  a  man  to 
change  the  combination,  which  he  did  not  do,  after 
being  wired  of  my  disability.  Now  Mr.  Stewart, 
after  paying  not  the  slightest  attention  to  the  notice 
of  my  illness,  censures  me  for  not  notifying  him  when 
I  went  to  the  United  States  to  identify  the  man  who 
assaulted  me.  Regarding  my  carrying  off  the  revol- 
ver, this  is  true  ;  but,  as  the  Company  demanded  the 
whole  of  my  time  off  duty,  as  well  as  on,  and  as  I 
was  expected  to  resume  work  any  day,  I  do  not  see 
why  I  should  not  be  regarded  as  their  property,  and 
as  much  entitled  to  protection  as  any  other  until  I 
was  dismissed. 

"Mr.  Selby's  statements  are  also  misleading.  It 
was  months  after  he  entered  my  office  before  I  allowed 
him  to  have  the  combination  of  the  safe  (outside 
door),  and  this  was  with  the  knowledge  and  consent 
of  Route  Agent  Bowen,  or  he  would  never  have  had 
even  the  combination  of  the  outer  door.  Mr.  Bowen 
checked  up  my  office  with  Mr.  Selby  two  or  three 
times,  and  was  satisfied.  Mr.  Selby's  statement  that 
the  inner  door  of  the  safe  was  not  used  from  October, 
1893,  to  June,  1894,  is  not  true,  and  cannot  be  sub- 
stantiated, as  he  was  away  from  my  office  for  weeks 
during  that  time. 

"As  to  my  changing  work  with  Mr.  O'Regan,  I 
did,  and  such  things  are  quite  customary  with  agents 


I4O  THE  STORY    OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

and  operators,  as  well  as  Assistant  Superintendents ; 
and  this  custom  prevails  at  the  present  time  all  along 
the  line.  I  may  add  that  there  was  a  distinct  under- 
standing between  Mr.  Brady  and  myself  that  I  could 
drive  out  or  walk  out  whenever  I  saw  fit,  without 
communicating  with  him. 

"Some  explanation  ought  to  be  made  concerning 
the  manner  in  which  these  complaints  from  Mr. 
Selby  and  Mr.  O'Regan  were  secured  by  Mr.  Brady, 
when  it  was  found  necessary  to  produce  before  Mr. 
Tait  other  evidence  against  me.  I  have  seen  both 
Mr.  Selby  and  Mr.  O'Regan  in  company  with  a  wit- 
ness I  took  with  me,  and  questioned  them  as  to  how 
they  came  to  make  such  charges.  I  found  that  Mr. 
Brady  had  taken  the  fast  express  from  Farnham, 
which  does  not  stop  at  Sutton  Junction ;  it,  however, 
slowed  up  enough  to  allow  him  to  jump  off.  He 
walked  to  the  station  and  remained  nearly  three  hours 
endeavoring  to  obtain  incriminating  evidence  against 
me.  Mr.  Selby  informed  me  he  did  not  think  his 
letters  would  come  to  light,  as  Mr.  Brady  told  him  it 
would  be  personal,  and  he  thought  as  I  was  dismissed 
from  the  Company's  service,  the  statements  would 
not  hurt  me,  and  it  might  help  him  to  a  situation  at 
some  future  time.  He  said  the  statements  were  first 
drawn  from  him  by  adroit  questioning,  and  he  was 
then  asked  to  put  them  in  writing. 

"When  Mr.  Brady  arrived  at  Sutton  Junction,  the 
night  operator,  O'Regan,  was  asleep,  but  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  call  him  up,  and  deprive  him  of  two  or 
three  hours'  rest,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  on  the 


THE  DOMINION  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  141 

first  of  July,  when  he  refused  to  allow  the  night  oper- 
ator, Ireland,  to  work  for  me  so  as  to  permit  of  my 
going  to  Montreal  to  attend  the  National  Prohibition 
Convention,  the  reason  he  gave  was  that  night  oper- 
ators required  their  days  to  rest  to  insure  efficient 
service  during  the  night.  But  in  this  case  he  breaks 
up  the  rest  of  a  night  operator  in  order  to  secure  this 
statement  from  O'Regan. 

"  Mr.  Tait  says  I  was  asleep  when  assaulted.  This 
I  do  not  deny,  but  he  knows  his  operators  all  sleep 
more  or  less  during  the  night,  when  they  understand 
the  position  of  their  trains.  Every  railway  man 
knows  this.  But  why  are  these  matters  brought  be- 
fore the  public  now?  Why  was  I  not  allowed  a  hear- 
ing by  the  officers  of  the  Company?  If  a  collision 
occurs  on  the  line,  or  other  serious  things  occur,  the 
parties  concerned  are  given  a  chance  to  clear  them- 
selves. If  men  get  drunk  and  damage  the  Com- 
pany's property,  they  are  given  a  hearing,  and  in 
many  cases  they  resume  work.  But  all  this  was 
denied  me.  There  must  have  been  a  reason  for  this ; 
it  must  be  because  Mr.  Tait  really  understood  the 
whole  matter  thoroughly,  as  he  says  in  his  letter, '  This 
correspondence'  (referring  to  these  later  charges) 
'is  insignificant,'  and  especially  as  he  has  said  to  a 
Witness  reporter,  and  published  in  the  Witness  of 
July  i ith :  'I  have  no  proof  that  Mr.  Smith  has  vio- 
lated the  confidence  of  the  Company.'  No,  my  seri- 
ous offence  was,  as  Mr.  Tait  states,  'the  taking  in 
public  an  active  part  on  either  side  of  such  moot 
questions  as  I  have  referred  to.' 


142  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

"  Mr.  Tait  also  stated  that  this  rule  applies  to  ques- 
tions of  politics.  Now,  if  the  same  rule  applied  to 
temperance  as  applies  to  politics,  I  would  still  be  in 
my  position  as  agent  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Rail- 
way at  Sutton  Junction,  for  during  the  last  general 
elections  the  Company  would  have  allowed  me  to 
move  heaven  and  earth,  if  possible,  to  elect  their 
candidate,  which  we  did  through  their  wire  pulling. 
I  don't  wonder  people  say  the  Canadian  Pacific  Rail- 
way runs  the  government,  but  they  cannot  run  the 
Brome  County  Alliance  or  any  of  the  other  temper- 
ance organizations.  I  would  like  to  ask  Mr.  Brady 
in  connection  with  these  charges,  why  he  should  add 
insult  to  injury  by  asserting  that  the  temperance  peo- 
ple could  all  'go  to  h — 1,'  and  he  'does  not  care  a 
G —  d — '  for  them  all,  and  why  was  I  approached  in 
an  obscure  way,  and  inducements  made  to  me  to 
resign  my  position  as  President  of  the  Brome  County 
Alliance,  and  give  up  lecturing  on  temperance,  and 
retain  my  position  as  agent  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway?  These  are  some  facts  that  more  clearly 
reveal  the  real  cause  for  my  dismissal,  and  the  source 
from  which  opposition  to  me  really  came,  namely, 
the  liquor  traffic,  exerted  through  its  emissaries. 

"  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  every  scrap  of 
evidence  against  me,  such  as  it  is,  has  been  trumped 
up,  since  my  dismissal.  Who  before  ever  heard  of  a 
man  being  sentenced  and  executed  and  then  the 
evidence  of  his  guilt  hunted  up  ? 

"W.  W.  SMITH. 

"  Sutton,  December  2^.tht  1894." 


THE  DOMINION  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  143 

The  feelings  which  then  animated  the  temperance 
public  of  Canada  concerning  the  conduct  of  the  Can- 
adian Pacific  Railway  may  be  seen  from  the  following 
article  in  the  Witness  of  December  28th : 

"The  meeting  of  representatives  of  the  various 
provincial  and  Dominion  temperance  bodies,  held 
yesterday  afternoon  in  the  Temple  Building,  was 
for  the  purpose  of  receiving  reports  from  the  execu- 
tives of  these  grand  bodies  concerning  the  action 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company,  in  dis- 
missing Mr.  Smith  for  his  activity  in  temperance 
work. 

"The  Secretary  presented  a  very  large  number  of 
resolutions  adopted  by  these  various  executives,  ex- 
pressing their  condemnation  of  the  Company,  and 
endorsing  heartily  the  action  of  the  Alliance,  in  seek- 
ing to  have  the  injustice  removed.  The  resolutions 
were  from  British  Columbia,  Northwest  Territories, 
Manitoba,  Ontario,  Quebec,  as  well  as  from  Maritime 
Provinces  —  from  far  off  Victoria,  B.  C.,  to  Halifax, 
N.  S. 

"The  communications  indicate  that  the  whole 
temperance  community  is  thoroughly  aroused,  and 
intensely  interested  in  this  matter.  The  meeting 
adopted  a  strong  resolution,  which  was  referred  to  a 
committee  of  five,  who  were  empowered  to  take  such 
further  action  as  they  deem  best  to  carry  out  the 
spirit  of  the  resolutions  presented  to  the  meeting 
yesterday. 


144  THE  STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

"The  Secretary  was  instructed  to  inform  Mr.  Tait, 
Assistant  General  Manager  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway,  that  this  committee  would  confer  with  him 
in  regard  to  this  matter,  if  we  should  so  desire.  The 
committee  will  await  Mr.  Tait's  reply  before  publish- 
ing the  resolutions  received  or  those  adopted  at  yes- 
terday's meeting." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

RESULTS   OF  THE   ALLIANCE   PROTEST. 

In  our  last  chapter  was  given  a  letter  written  by 
Mr.  Carson  on  December  2ist,  and  addressed  to  Mr. 
Tait.  The  reply  to  this  was  as  follows : 

"J.  H.  Carson,  Esq.,  Secretary  Quebec  Provincial 
Branch  of  the  Dominion  Alliance,  162  St.  James 
Street,  Montreal : 

"DEAR  SIR, — I  have  acknowledged  the  receipt  of 
your  two  communications  of  the  2ist  and  28th  ult. 
As  your  letter  of  the  2ist  states  that  the  Alliance 
does  not  allege  that  the  reason  for  Mr.  Smith's  dis- 
charge by  the  Company  was  the  nature  of  the  prin- 
ciples held  and  advocated  by  him,  and  states  that  the 
sole  objection  of  the  Alliance  to  the  action  of  the 
Company  in  this  matter  is  the  discharge  of  an  em- 
ployee from  its  service  'for  his  activity  in  advocating 
those  principles,'  I  now  desire  to  state  briefly,  and  in 
such  a  way  as  I  trust  will  prevent  any  possibility  of 
being  any  longer  misinterpreted,  the  views  of  the 
Company  on  that  point. 

"The  Company  does  not  object  to  its  employees 
holding,  practising  and  promoting  temperance  prin- 
ciples in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  injuriously  affect 
the  Company's  interests,  but  it  does  object  seriously 


146  THE   STORY   OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

to  any  employee  actively  engaging  in  the  advocacy 
and  agitation  of  these  or  any  other  principles  or 
views,  no  matter  how  respectable  and  proper  in  them- 
selves, about  which  there  is  a  well  understood  differ- 
ence of  opinion  in  the  community,  in  such  a  manner 
as  either  to  injuriously  affect  the  Company's  interests 
or  to  impair  his  usefulness  as  an  employee,  or  to  in- 
terfere with  the  proper  performance  of  his  duties  to 
his  employer,  as  to  all  of  which  it  cannot  be  expected 
that  any  other  than  the  Company  should  be  the  judge. 

"There  is  a  large  portion  of  the  population  of  this 
country  who,  rightly  or  wrongly,  differ  from  and  op- 
pose the  views  which  are  promulgated  and  promoted 
by  the  Alliance,  and  which  have  been  so  vigorously 
and  persistently  advocated  by  Mr.  Smith,  the  result 
being,  as  it  was  sure  to  be,  that  his  usefulness  as  our 
agent  was  seriously  impaired,  owing  to  the  Company 
having  to  bear  to  some  extent  the  antagonism  which 
logically  perhaps  ought  to  have  been  confined  to 
him,  though  there  was  some  ground  for  the  public 
considering  that  the  Company  was  taking  a  part  in 
his  advocacy,  since  in  advertising  public  meetings  to 
be  addressed  by  himself,  Mr.  Smith  described  him- 
self as  '  W.  W.  Smith,  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Rail- 
way, Temperance  Lecturer.' 

"  In  this  connection  I  beg  to  draw  your  attention 
to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Smith  did  not  confine  his  work 
of  agitation,  public  lecturing,  etc.,  to  the  County  of 
Brome,  or  that  section  of  the  country  in  which  the 
majority  of  the  population  had  voted  in  favor  of  the 
prohibition  of  liquor,  but  that  his  operations  extended 


RESULTS  OF  THE  ALLIANCE  PROTEST,          147 

beyond  these  limits.  After  the  fullest  investigation, 
and  consideration  of  this  whole  matter,  I  feel  con- 
strained to  say  that  the  Company's  course  was,  under 
the  circumstances,  not  only  justified,  but,  having 
regard  to  its  business  interests,  unavoidable. 

"In  yours  of  the  2ist  ult,  you  refer  again  to  the 
correspondence  between  Mr.  Brady  and  Mr.  Smith. 
Inasmuch  as  the  Company  has  stated  that  the  ex- 
pressions complained  of  do  not  meet  with  its  approval 
or  express  correctly  its  policy,  I  submit  that  it  is  now 
clearly  improper  and  unfair  to  endeavor  to  make 
them  appear  as  a  reason  for  the  continuation  of  the 
complaint  against  the  Company. 

"  I  note  from  your  letter  of  the  28th  ult.,  that  a 
meeting  is  suggested  between  the  officials  of  the 
Company  and  a  committee  representing  the  Alliance. 
I  shall  be  glad,  as  I  a  long  time  ago  offered  to  meet 
this  committee,  and  as  you  have  kindly  left  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  time  and  place  of  meeting  with  me, 
I  suggest,  if  it  is  convenient  to  the  committee,  my 
office  on  Monday  next,  at  eleven  A.  M. 

"The  delay  in  replying  to  your  letters  was  due  to 
the  uncertainty  of  my  movements  and   consequent 
difficulty  in  naming  a  time  for  the  proposed  meeting. 
"Yours  truly, 

"(Signed),  THOS.  TAIT, 

"Assistant  General  Manager." 

According  to  the  spirit  of  this  letter,  no  man  hav- 
ing an  interest  in  any  reform,  or  a  desire  to  aid  in  any 
work  for  the  good  of  his  fellow-men,  can  conscien- 


148  THE   STORY  OP  A   DARK  PLOT. 

tiously  hold  a  position  in  the  employ  of  this  great 
Company,  which  is  so  influential  in  our  beloved  coun- 
try. Must  every  self-supporting  man  be  a  slave? 

Mr.  Tait  says,  "After  the  fullest  investigation,  and 
consideration  of  this  whole  matter,  I  feel  constrained 
to  say  that  the  Company's  course  was,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, not  only  justifiable,  but,  having  regard 
to  its  business  interests,  unavoidable." 

Mr.  Tait  does  not  say  "Mr.  Brady's  course,"  but 
"the  Company's  course,"  thus  showing  that  Mr. 
Brady  had  not  acted  independently  of  his  superior 
officers  in  dismissing  Mr.  Smith. 

Mr.  Tait  also  expresses  the  Company's  disapproval 
of  Mr.  Brady's  "expressions,"  while  he,  himself, 
makes  statements  which  seem  quite  as  objectionable 
as  those  of  Mr.  Brady.  Moreover,  as  Mr.  Tait  sanc- 
tions the  dismissal  of  an  employee  for  active  temper- 
ance work,  and  mentions  in  this  letter  no  other  cause 
as  having  led  to  Mr.  Smith's  discharge,  we  do  not 
see  why  he  should  object  to  an  Assistant  Superin- 
tendent naming  the  same  reason  to  an  under  official, 
whom  he  is  dismissing  from  the  Company's  service. 

The  conference  arranged  between  Mr.  Tait  and  the 
representatives  of  the  Alliance  was  held  in  the  office 
of  the  former  on  January  7th,  1895.  The  meeting 
began  at  half-past  eleven,  and  continued  until  nearly 


RESULTS   OF   THE  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  149 

two  o'clock,  when,  as  no  definite  decision  was  reached, 
it  was  decided  to  adjourn  until  the  following  morning. 
The  resolutions  adopted  by  the  various  temperance 
bodies  in  Montreal,  and  elsewhere,  were  presented  to 
Mr.  Tait.  The  following  circular,  issued  by  the 
Quebec  Provincial  Branch  of  the  Dominion  Alliance, 
shows  the  result  of  the  conference  on  January  8th. 

"Dominion  Alliance, 
"Quebec  Provincial  Branch, 
"  MONTREAL,  Jan.  soth,  1895. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — On  November  28th  last,  by  circular 
letter,  we  called  the  attention  of  the  executives  of  the 
various  grand  bodies  of  the  temperance  organizations 
of  the  Dominion  to  the  action  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  Company,  in  dismissing  from  their  employ 
the  President  of  one  of  our  county  alliances,  Mr.  W. 
W.  Smith.  Enclosed  in  this  circular  was  a  copy  of 
the  correspondence  which  led  up  to  the  dismissal. 
In  response  to  this  circular,  resolutions  were  received 
from  every  Province  of  the  Dominion,  as  well  as  from 
the  executives  of  Dominion  organizations. 

"These  resolutions  were  very  emphatic  in  their 
condemnation  of  the  position  taken  by  Assistant 
Superintendent  Brady,  in  the  published  correspond- 
ence, to  wit,  that  an  employee  'must  quit  temperance 
work  or  quit  the  Company.' 

"These  resolutions  were  carefully  considered  at 
the  conference  of  temperance  representatives,  held  in 


I5O  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

this  city  on  December  2/th,  and  it  was  decided  to 
ask  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  to  repudiate  the 
position  taken  by  Assistant  Superintendent  Brady, 
and  that  it  take  such  action  in  regard  to  Mr.  Brady, 
whose  course  has  given  so  much  offence  to  the  tem- 
perance people,  as  will  convince  its  employees  and 
the  public  that  its  policy  is  not  that  represented  by 
his  act.  It  was  also  decided  that  before  any  further 
action  be  taken,  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  should 
be  notified  that  if  it  so  desired,  a  deputation  from 
this  meeting  would  be  prepared  to  meet  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Company  in  conference. 

"The  Company  concurred  in  the  suggestion,  and 
as  a  result  of  two  lengthy  conferences,  the  following 
agreement  was  arrived  at : 

"  'The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  distinctly  repu- 
diate, as  they  have  done  from  the  commencement  of 
the  discussion,  the  expressions  used  by  Assistant 
Superintendent  Brady,  when  demanding  Mr.  Smith's 
resignation,  which  expressions  have  been  taken  ex- 
ception to  by  the  temperance  people. 

"  'The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  admit  the  right  of 
employees  to  identify  themselves  with  the  temper- 
ance movement,  and  work  for  the  same,  provided 
such  work  is  done  outside  official  hours,  always  with 
due  consideration  to  the  interests  of  the  Company. 
The  committee  accept  such  declaration  as  satisfactory. 

"  'The  committee  claims  that  the  hasty  and  ill- 
advised  language  used  in  Assistant  Superintendent 
Brady's  correspondence,  and  otherwise,  has  caused 
grave  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  the  temperance 


RESULTS    OF  THE  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  l$\ 

people  of  Canada.  The  committee  disclaim  any 
attempt  to  coerce  or  dictate  to  the  Canadian  Pacific 
in  the  management  of  the  Company's  affairs,  but 
under  the  circumstances  look  to  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  to  place  on  record  some  substantial  mark  of 
their  disapproval  of  the  expressions  of  one  of  their 
staff,  same  having  been  the  means  of  causing  offence 
to  a  large  portion  of  the  community. 

"  'The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  claims  that,  if  for 
no  other  reason,  Mr.  Smith's  discharge  was  justifiable 
on  the  ground  of  neglect  of  duty.' 

"  This  was  signed  by  Mr.  Thomas  Tait,  Assistant 
General  Manager,  on  the  part  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway,  and  by  the  following  delegation  as  represent- 
ing the  temperance  people  of  Canada :  Major  E.  L. 
Bond,  Mr. E.  A. Dyer,  M.P.,  Rev.  A.  M.  Phillips,  Mr.  A. 
M.  Featherston,  Mr.  S.  J.  Carter, and  Mr.  J.  H.  Carson. 

"This  agreement  and  the  delegation's  report  was 
received  and  approved  as  satisfactory,  by  the  execu- 
tive of  this  provincial  Alliance,  and  a  committee  ap- 
pointed to  communicate  the  result  to  the  temperance 
bodies. 

"  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  Company  has  entirely 
repudiated  the  offensive  language  used  by  Mr.  Brady, 
and  declares  that  it  does  not  express  the  attitude  of 
the  Company  towards  the  temperance  cause. 

"The  Company  also  admits  the  right  of  its  em- 
ployees to  engage  in  temperance  work ;  and  as  regards 
Mr.  Brady,  it  acknowledges  that  cause  for  dissatis- 
faction has  existed,  and  promises  that  action  will  be 
taken  to  remove  this  cause. 


152  THE    STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

"In  placing  these  facts  before  you,  we  have  to 
congratulate  our  friends  throughout  the  Dominion 
upon  the  satisfactory  conclusion  of  this  matter,  which 
has  given  us  all  so  much  anxious  concern. 

"Another  cause  for  congratulation  is  the  intense 
interest  manifested  in  this  case  in  every  part  of  the 
Dominion.  From  Vancouver  to  Prince  Edward  Isl- 
and have  come  expressions  of  hearty  cooperation, 
which  have  been  exceedingly  gratifying,  clearly 
demonstrating  the  fact  that  there  is  a  temperance 
force  throughout  the  country  which,  if  only  concen- 
trated, and  directed  unitedly  against  the  legalized 
liquor  traffic  of  our  land,  would  be  positively  irresist- 
ible. In  the  present  instance  a  vital  principle  of 
temperance  reform  was  attacked  and  almost  imme- 
diately the  whole  Dominion  resounds  with  the  pro- 
tests of  the  temperance  people,  and  forthwith  the 
injustice  is  removed. 

"With  regard  to  Mr.  Smith,  we  have  this  to  add, 
that  having  since  accepted  the  position  of  organizer 
and  lecturer  for  the  Independent  Order  of  Good  Tem- 
plars of  this  Province,  he  had  no  desire  to  return  to 
the  Company's  employ,  preferring  to  devote  himself 
entirely  to  the  temperance  work. 

"  On  behalf  of  the  executive, 


"E.  L.  BOND, 
"S.  J.  CARTER, 
"A.  M.  FEATHERSTON, 
"A.  M.  PHILLIPS, 
"J.  H.  CARSON, 


Committee'' 


RESULTS  OF   THE  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  153 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  this  letter  the  committee 
congratulate  their  friends  upon  "the  satisfactory  con- 
clusion of  this  matter."  Also  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Executive  of  the  Alliance  before  the  above  circular 
was  issued  the  following  resolution  was  adopted : 

"That  this  executive  having  heard  the  agreement 
and  the  report  of  the  committee  thereon,  is  satisfied 
with  the  same,  and  congratulate  the  temperance 
people  of  Canada  on  the  result." 

It  is  often  well  for  us  to  look  at  the  bright  side, 
and  this  was  what  the  Alliance  Committee  determined 
on  doing,  and  there  surely  were  some  encouraging 
features  connected  with  this  case. 

Nevertheless,  as  there  are  generally  two  sides  which 
may  be  seen  in  such  an  affair,  there  were  many  of 
"the  temperance  people  of  Canada"  who  did  not 
consider  this  conclusion  satisfactory,  and  exchanged 
no  congratulations,  and  it  may  do  us  no  harm  now 
to  look  briefly  at  some  of  the  disappointing  features 
in  this  settlement. 

First,  it  is  said,  "that  the  Company  has  entirely 
repudiated  the  offensive  language  used  by  Mr.  Brady, 
and  declares  that  it  does  not  express  the  attitude  of 
the  Company  towards  the  temperance  cause."  Now, 
Mr.  Tait  had  taken  precisely  this  same  position  in 


154  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

his  letters  to  the  Alliance  Secretary,  previous  to  the 
meeting  with  the  committee,  and  even  in  the  minutes 
of  the  meeting, as  above  given,  it  is  said,  "The  Cana- 
dian Pacific  Railway  distinctly  repudiate  —  as  they 
have  done  from  the  commencement  of  the  discussion  — 
the  expressions  used  by  Assistant  Superintendent 
Brady."  In  view  of  this  it  would  seem  that  not  much 
was  gained  by  the  meeting  on  this  point. 

Secondly,  we  are  told  that  "the  Company  also 
admits  the  right  of  its  employees  to  engage  in  tem- 
perance work."  It  certainly  was  encouraging  that 
this  great  Company  should  try  to  appear  pleasing  to 
the  Alliance,  and  seemed  to  show  that  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  considered  the  temperance  party  a 
powerful  factor  in  the  land,  but  when  we  come  to 
consider  the  manner  in  which  the  admission  men- 
tioned above  was  made,  we  can  but  see  that  it  has  a 
very  doubtful  side.  The  sentence  in  which  the  Com- 
pany makes  this  announcement  is  as  follows : 

"The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  admit  the  right  of 
employees  to  identify  themselves  with  the  temper- 
ance movement,  and  work  for  the  same,  provided 
such  work  is  done  outside  official  hours,  always  with 
dtte  consideration  to  the  interests  of  the  Company" 

As  we  are  not  told  that  Mr.  Tail,  at  the  meeting, 
repudiated  any  of  his  own  former  statements,  we  will 


RESULTS   OF   THE  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  155 

look  at  the  above  in  the  light  of  the  following,  from 
his  letter  of  December  6th,  to  Mr.  Carson : 

"  As  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  no  official  of  our 
Company,  of  whose  duties  one  is  to  solicit  and  secure 
traffic  for  the  Company,  could  take  sides  on  any  of 
these  questions,"  referring  to  matters  about  which 
the  public  disagree,  "at  public  meetings  and  lectures 
without  impairing  its  usefulness  to  the  Company.  .  . 
The  Company  is  carrying  on  the  busi- 
ness of  a  railway  company,  and  its  objects  do  not 
extend  beyond  the  promotion  of  that  business.  Its 
success  depends  upon  the  favor  and  patronage  of  the 
community  at  large,  and  if  one  of  its  officers  or  em- 
ployees so  conducts  himself  as  to  antagonize  a  sec- 
tion of  the  community,  or  even  in  a  manner  which  is 
likely  to  bring  about  that  result,  the  Company's 
interests  are  injuriously  affected." 

The  admission  made  to  the  Alliance  seems  to  be 
robbed  of  most  of  its  virtue  by  the  above  statements, 
and  it  would  seem  that  even  yet  the  employees  of 
the  Company  may  have  but  little  liberty  of  conscience. 

It  is  also  said  in  the  aforementioned  circular  that, 
"as  regards  Mr.  Brady,  the  Company  acknowledges 
that  cause  for  dissatisfaction  has  existed,  and  prom- 
ises that  action  will  be  taken  to  remove  this  cause." 

This  acknowledgment  was  certainly  a  good  one, 
but  we  have  no  knowledge  of  the  promise  having 


156  THE  STORY  OP  A  DARK  PLOT. 

been  fulfilled.  Mr.  Brady  has  been  moved  from  one 
division  to  another  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway, 
but  as  this  change  did  not  take  place  until  long  after 
this  meeting  was  held,  and  then  only  in  connection 
with  many  others  among  the  officials  and  employees 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  and  as  Mr.  Brady 
still  holds  an  honorable  position  in  the  Company's 
employ,  we  see  no  reason  for  supposing  that  this 
had  any  connection  with  the  promise  made  to  the 
committee. 

Some  of  the  temperance  people  feeling  dissatisfied 
with  the  results  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway-Alli- 
ance Conference  sent  communications  regarding  it  to 
the  papers,  but  the  press,  from  some  cause,  seemed 
very  loath  to  publish  these  protests.  However,  the 
following,  addressed  to  the  Editor  of  the  Witness,  did 
find  its  way  to  the  public,  and  may  have  expressed  the 
opinions  of  many  besides  the  writer : 

"SIR, — That  the  temperance  people  of  Canada 
were  moved,  as  never  before,  by  the  dismissal  of  its 
Sutton  Junction  agent,  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith,  by  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company,  because  he  had 
rendered  himself  obnoxious  to  the  lawbreakers  of  the 
County  of  Brome,  who  had  tried  but  failed  to  kill 
him,  there  is  no  doubt,  as  may  be  clearly  seen  from 
your  columns,  to  say  nothing  of  the  thousand  hearts, 
which,  like  mine,  said  nothing,  but  felt  no  less  all  the 


RESULTS  OF   THE  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  157 

while  that  by  its  action  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
had  placed  a  premium  upon  lawlessness  and  immor- 
ality at  the  expense  of  those  whom  I  had  been  taught 
to  regard  as  the  '  salt  of  the  earth.' 

"The  immediate  consequence  of  this  was  that  that 
line  of  railway  was  being  shunned,  and  its  services 
neglected  by  many  of  its  old  patrons,  and  by  this 
loss  its  magnates  were  being  taught  a  lesson,  and  put 
on  the  '  repentent  stool,'  and  it  seemed  almost  certain 
that  never  more  would  the  Bradys,  Taits,  and  Van 
Homes  of  this  Canadian  made  and  pampered  cor- 
poration forget  that  temperance  people  of  Canada 
had  both  the  will  and  the  power  to  retaliate  upon 
their  persecutors.  And  that  if  another  such  dis- 
missal was  ever  again  attempted,  they  would  '  more 
darkly  sin,'  and  hide  the  '  cloven  foot,'  which  was  so 
openly  shown  by  Brady  and  Tait. 

"At  this  juncture  of  its  affairs,  and  at  the  moment 
when  a  persistence  in  the  agitation  would  probably 
have  resulted  in  reparation  of  the  wrong  done  to  Mr. 
Smith,  and  an  open  repudiation  of  its  immoral  atti- 
tude, Mr.  Tait  managed  to  get  a  hold  of  some  gentle- 
men, who  like  the  seven  Tooley  Street  tailors,  who 
called  themselves  'We,  the  people  of  England,'  arro- 
gated to  themselves  the  right  to  speak  for  the  tem- 
perance people  of  Canada,  and  he  played  them  off 
on  the  'Come  into  my  parlor,  said  the  spider  to  a 
fly,'  and  the  upshot  of  the  matter  is  the  most  disap- 
pointing and  sickening,  I  think,  I  have  ever  seen. 

"  I  do  not  know  the  names  of  any  one  of  these  men, 
so  I  cannot  be  accused  of  malice  in  holding  up  their 


158  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT, 

conduct  to  the  commiseration  not  to  say  contempt  of 
the  public.  Though  an  intense  prohibitionist  I  have 
never  been  able  to  appreciate  the  wisdom  and  nerve 
of  some  of  our  temperance  people ;  yet,  never  before 
have  I  noticed  anything  that  looked  so  like  treachery 
to  our  cause. 

"  In  your  issue  of  the  8th  inst.  we  have  a  large 
heading,  '  Brady  Repudiated,'  and  in  the  body  of  the 
article  we  see  this  temperance  committee,  if  not 
openly  repudiating  Mr.  Smith,  allowing  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  to  defame  his  character,  and  to  their 
very  teeth  justify  his  dismissal,  and  giving  their  con- 
sent to  both. 

"  How  artfully  Mr.  Tait  changed  the  whole  ground 
of  complaint;  and  how  simply  the  committee  were 
hoodwinked  and  befooled  will  be  seen,  when  I  say 
that  that  which  roused  the  temperance  people  was 
the  truckling  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  to  the 
liquor  traffic,  and  its  marked  contempt  for  temper- 
ance men,  its  moral  tyranny  over  its  employees,  and 
its  wrongful  dismissal  of  Mr.  Smith,  simply  because 
his  attitude  on  a  moral  question  had  exasperated  the 
other  side.  But  in  the  report  which  you  give  of  the 
interview  between  this  committee  and  Mr.  Tait,  all 
this  is  lost  sight  of,  and  the  whole  ground  of  com- 
plaint is  made  to  rest  on  poor  Brady,  the  '  scape- 
goat's' phraseology.  'The  committee  claimed  that 
the  ill-advised  language  used  in  Assistant  Superin- 
tendent Brady's  correspondence  has  caused  great 
dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  the  temperance  people 
of  Canada.' 


RESULTS  OF  THE  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.          159 

"The  committee  would  seem  to  have  insisted  on 
the  punishment  of  Brady,  while  concurring  with  Tail 
in  everything.  The  report  says: 

"'The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  acknowledges 
that  cause  for  dissatisfaction  has  existed,  claim  the 
responsibility  of  dealing  with,  and  will  deal  with  the 
matter  in  such  manner  as  they  consider  deserving 
in  the  premises.'  If  this  is  offered  as  a  salve  to  the 
small,  cowardly  feelings  which  would  like  to  see  a 
subordinate  punished  for  doing  what  he  was  told  to 
do,  I  trust  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  will  disap- 
point the  committee,  and  let  their  scapegoat  go  free. 
It  would  be  both  cruel  and  unfair  that  the  blow  should 
fall  on  Brady,  the  mean  tool,  and  the  bigger  tyrants  go 
free.  This  is  so  evidently  seen  in  the  fact  that  Tait 
practically  insists  on  the  same  right  to  muzzle  Cana- 
dian Pacific  Railway  employees  that  Brady  did. 

"JAMES    FlNDLAY. 

"  Beachburg,  P.  Q." 

Commenting  on  the  above  letter  the  Witness  says : 

"The  question  might  be  raised  whether  the  com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  temperance  conference  had 
instructions  to  come  to  any  agreement  with  the  Cana- 
dian Pacific  Railway.  They  certainly  were  instructed 
to  give  the  Company  an  opportunity  to  right  the 
wrong  it  had  done  before  proceeding  to  publish  the 
finding  of  the  conference.  It  was,  therefore,  natural 
for  the  Company's  representative  to  ask  the  commit- 
tee what  would  satisfy  them,  and  it  would  seem  to 


I6O  THE  STORY   OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

the  committee  unreasonable  not  to  answer  such  a 
question.  Mr.  Findlay  labors  under  a  misconcep- 
tion if  he  thinks  the  committee  were  not  independent, 
and  determined  to  maintain  the  rights  of  temperance 
men.  They  were  selected  so  as  best  to  represent  the 
interests  of  Mr.  Smith  as  well  as  those  of  the  princi- 
ples at  stake.  The  assurances  they  received  were 
certainly  about  as  complete  as  could  well  be  looked  for 
from  a  Company  that  was  not  prepared  to  acknowl- 
edge itself  dictated  to  as  to  the  management  of  its 
internal  affairs.  The  Company  was  not  asked  to  re- 
instate Mr.  Smith,  which  would  have  been  unpleasant 
for  him.  What  it  promised  was  that  temperance 
men  should  be  under  no  disability  in  its  service,  and 
though  it  reserved  to  itself  the  right  to  manage  its 
own  affairs,  it  acknowledged  that  cause  for  dissatis- 
faction existed,  and  undertook  to  deal  with  the  mat- 
ter. This,  we  submit,  if  followed  up  in  accordance 
with  the  Company's  policy,  as  stated  in  Mr.  Tait's 
letters,  is  a  very  satisfactory  position." 

The  reason  of  this  latter  statement  is  seen  when 
we  remember  that  "  the  Company's  policy  as  stated 
in  Mr.  Tait's  letters  "  was  that  when  any  officer  or 
employee  antagonized  a  part  of  the  community  on  a 
question  on  which  the  public  were  divided,  the  Com- 
pany would  "protect  its  interests  by  his  removal;" 
and  Mr.  Brady  had  certainly  opposed  and  displeased 
a  very  large  portion  of  the  community.  How  this 
Assistant  Superintendent  was  really  dealt  with,  is 


RESULTS   OF   THE  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  \6l 

shown  by  the  following  from  a  report  of  an  executive 
meeting  of  the  Provincial  Alliance,  on  April  i8th: 

"The  first  business  considered  was  the  communi- 
cation from  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  forwarded 
to  the  executive  from  the  general  committee  for 
action.  This  letter  was  in  reply  to  the  Secretary's 
request  to  know  in  what  manner  the  Company  had 
dealt  with  Mr.  Brady,  the  Assistant  Superintendent, 
whose  action  in  connection  with  Mr.  Smith's  dis- 
missal had  been  so  offensive  to  the  temperance 
people.  The  letter  is  addressed  to  Mr.  Carson,  the 
Secretary,  and  is  as  follows : 

"  '  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt 
of  your  letter  of  the  ist  inst. 

"  'The  Company  has  reproved  and  dealt  with  Mr. 
Brady  as,  under  the  circumstances,  was  considered 
deserving,  and  in  such  a  manner  as,  it  is  trusted,  will 
prevent  any  reasonable  cause  for  further  complaint. 

"  '  Mr.  Brady,  while  stating  that  he  never  intended 
the  slightest  disrespect  towards  the  Dominion  Alli- 
ance or  disapproval  of  temperance  principles,  has 
acknowledged  that  he  gave  cause  for  dissatisfaction, 
and  expressed  regret  for  the  same,  and  a  determina- 
tion to  avoid  a  recurrence.  Yours  truly, 

'"THOS.  TAIT, 
"  'Assistant  General  Manager.'  " 

A  few  days  previous  to  this  Executive  meeting  the 
above  letter  was  presented  at  a  meeting  of  the  general 


1 62  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

committee  of  the  Provincial  Alliance,  and  "was  not 
considered  at  all  satisfactory." 

However,  the  Executive  Committee,  without  ap- 
proving the  letter,  decided  to  publish  it  "for  the 
information  of  the  temperance  public,"  probably  ac- 
cepting it  as  the  best  which  could  be  hoped  for  under 
the  circumstances. 

But,  although  all  was  not  satisfactory,  there  were, 
as  we  have  said,  some  causes  for  gratitude  in  connec- 
tion with  this  affair.  The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
and  Canadian  liquor  men  had  a  chance  to  learn  that 
among  their  opponents  there  was  some  zeal  and 
spirit,  and  a  desire  to  help  one  another,  and  this 
knowledge  may  make  them  more  careful  in  the  future 
as  to  how  they  oppose  and  arouse  temperance  senti- 
ment. Such  an  agitation  and  interest  as  resulted 
from  this  dismissal,  doubtless  might  decide  some  un- 
settled minds  in  favor  of  the  temperance  party.  Also 
the  action  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  in  thus 
reproving  Mr.  Brady,  and  eliciting  from  him  a  prom- 
ise to  exercise  greater  caution  in  the  future  was 
probably  as  much  as  could  be  expected  from  a  pow- 
erful corporation  which  is  not  willing  to  acknowledge 
itself  in  the  wrong,  and  whose  "objects  do  not  ex- 
tend beyond  the  promotion  of  its  business,"  so  long 
as  the  laws  of  our  land  permit  liquor  sellers  to  be 


RESULTS  OF  THE  ALLIANCE  PROTEST.  163 

licensed,  and  Prohibition  is  a  thing  talked  of,  but  not 
experienced. 

Not  until  national  prohibition  finds  a  place  among 
Canadian  laws,  and  is  upheld  by  the  Canadian  gov- 
ernment, will  such  bodies  allow  themselves  to  be 
dictated  to  by  the  temperance  people. 

The  Scott  Act  is  very  good  so  far  as  it  goes,  but 
if  the  County  of  Brome,  instead  of  having  this  Act, 
and  standing,  in  this  respect,  almost  alone  in  the 
Province,  had  possessed  its  share  in  a  prohibition 
law  which  held  sway  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
the  outlawed  liquor  venders  of  the  county  would 
probably  not  have  had  such  power  with  a  great  cor- 
poration as  they  displayed  in  this  case.  If  the  tem- 
perance people  of  Canada  wish  to  have  a  powerful 
voice  in  such  matters  as  this,  or  if  they  would  have 
great  institutions  like  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
conducted  ort  principles  of  temperance  and  true  free- 
dom, let  them  work  for  prohibition,  and  send  repre- 
sentatives to  Parliament  who  will  do  the  same.  And 
just  now,  when  they  hold  in  their  hands  a  key  which 
may  be  the  means  of  unlocking  to  us  the  gate  of 
Prohibition  for  our  country,  let  them  use  it  to  the 
best  advantage,  by  giving  a  powerful  majority  for 
good  when  the'  Plebiscite  vote  is  taken. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE   MARCH   COURT. 

As  was  stated  in  Chapter  III.  of  this  book,  the 
prisoners,  Kelly  and  Howarth,  remained  in  jail,  the 
former  at  Montreal,  the  latter  at  Svveetsburg,  during 
the  winter  of  1894—95,  awaiting  trial  at  the  Court  of 
Queen's  Bench. 

This  court  opened  at  Sweetsburg  on  Friday,  March 
I  st,  1895,  but  the  Assault  Case  did  not  receive  special 
consideration  until  the  following  week.  Monday, 
March  4th*  the  Grand  Jury  reported  a  true  bill 
against  M.  L.  Jenne,  Jas.  Wilson  and  John  Howarth 
for  conspiracy,  and  against  Walter  Kelly  for  at- 
tempted murder. 

On  Tuesday  morning  the  court  room  was  crowded 
so  that  it  was  impossible  to  obtain  even  standing- 
room  for  all  the  eager  listeners,  and  many  were 
obliged  to  content  themselves  with  the  little  that 
they  could  hear  outside  the  doors.  Thus  was  shown 
the  great  interest  which  the  public  felt  in  the  result 
of  this  trial. 


THE  MARCH  COURT.  165 

When  the  names  of  the  accused  were  called,  Mr. 
Racicot,  counsel  for  the  defence,  asked  in  an  elo- 
quent speech  that  the  prisoners  be  allowed  to  sit 
with  their  counsel  instead  of  being  made  to  stand  for 
hours  in  the  dock.  Mr.  Baker,  Crown  Prosecutor, 
opposed  this  request,  and  Hon.  Judge  Lynch  ordered 
that  the  prisoners  be  put  into  the  box. 

The  next  thing  in  order  was  the  empanneling  of  a 
petit  jury.  It  appeared  that  many  of  the  proposed 
jurymen  were  known  supporters  of  the  liquor  party, 
and  these  were,  of  course,  objected  to  by  the  lawyer 
for  the  Crown.  In  the  words  of  The  Templar,  "  It 
seemed  as  if  Mr.  Baker  challenged  all  who  were 
known  to  'take  a  glass/  while  Mr.  Racicot  chal- 
lenged all  known  temperance  people." 

The  afternoon  session  opened  at  one  o'clock.  The 
Crown  Prosecutor  made  an  eloquent  speech  to  the 
jury,  reviewing  the  evidence  given  at  the  preliminary 
trial.  The  following  account  of  his  address  was  given 
in  the  Witness: 

"  He  said :  '  It  will  be  an  evil  day  for  Canada  when 
men,  becoming  indignant  that  the  machinery  of  the 
law  is  put  in  force  against  them,  send  to  Marlboro  or 
any  other  place  for  an  assassin  to  "do  up"  those 
against  whom  their  indignation  is  aroused.'  Speak- 
ing of  the  combination  of  circumstances  that  led  to 


1 66  THE   STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

the  identification  of  Kelly,  he  said :  •  There  is  a 
Providence  in  these  things.  There  is  an  overruling 
power  that  is  directed  in  the  cause  of  right.'  He 
said  regarding  the  character  of  Kelly:  '  The  learned 
counsel  for  the  defence  will  try  to  make  you  believe 
that  Kelly's  evidence  should  not  be  accepted.  The 
witness,  Kelly,  is  not  one  of  my  choosing ;  he  is  not 
chosen  by  any  member  of  this  court.  He  is  of  the 
prisoners'  own  choosing.  They  could  not  have  pro- 
cured the  pastor  of  the  first  church  of  Marlboro,  nor 
one  of  the  deacons,  to  do  their  work,  but  they  were 
compelled  to  take  a  man  from  behind  the  bar  of  a 
saloon,  in  a  low  street ;  one  who  would  take  a  shil- 
ling for  his  work,  and  do  the  job  as  directed  by 
them." 

The  first  witness  examined  was  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith, 
whose  evidence  was  similar  to  that  previously  given 
by  him.  He  identified  Kelly  as  the  man  who  had 
committed  the  assault  on  July  8th.  The  following 
is  a  part  of  the  cross-examination  as  reported  in  the 
Witness: 

"'Do  you  know  Peter  McGettrick,  of  Richford?' 

'"I  do.' 

"'Do  you  know  Frank  Brady?' 

«"I  do.' 

"'Did  you  tell  them  on  the  Sunday  that  they 
came  to  see  you  that  you  would  take  your  oath  that 
the  man  who  assaulted  you  was  Orin  Wilson,  a 
brother  of  Jas.  Wilson?' 


THE  MARCH  COURT.  167 

"'I  did  not.' 

"  '  Did  you  tell  Jane  Fay,  at  church,  that  you  did 
not  know  who  assaulted  you?  ' 
"'I  did  not.'" 

From  some  of  the  above  questions  it  would  seem 
that  Mr.  Brady,  not  content  with  having  dismissed 
Mr.  Smith  from  the  service  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway,  was  trying  to  aid  his  assailants  to  escape 
justice. 

The  next  evidence  given  was  that  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Donald, of  Sutton,  the  physician  who  attended  Mr. 
Smith  after  the  assault.  His  testimony  was  given 
in  the  Witness,  as  follows : 

"I  know  Mr.  W.  W.  Smith.  I  was  called  to  him 
professionally  on  July  8th.  I  found  him  in  a  dazed 
condition,  with  a  bruise  on  the  top  of  his  head,  four 
or  five  inches  in  length,  swollen  and  contused. 
There  was  also  evidence  of  another  blow,  not  so 
long,  more  in  the  centre  of  the  top  of  his  head,  and 
another  blow  still  shorter  and  more  to  the  right  of 
the  head,  another  on  the  side  of  the  neck  and 
shoulders,  and  one  on  the  hip.  All  these  bruises  I 
considered  serious.  The  appearance  later  was  that 
of  the  discoloration  consequent  upon  such  bruises. 
The  bruises  were  such  as  might  have  been  inflicted 
by  the  weapon  now  in  court.  They  could  not  have 
been  inflicted  by  the  fist.  I  saw  Mr.  Smith  that 
morning,  and  on  the  night  of  the  same  day,  on  the 


1 68  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

following  Monday  morning,  and  again  on  Tuesday 
night.  I  then  considered  him  sufficiently  recovered 
to  not  require  medical  assistance  further.  I  saw  him 
afterward,  but  not  professionally.  Death  has  often 
resulted  from  less  blows  than  these." 

Daniel  Smith,  of  Sutton,  then  gave  evidence  that 
he  had  seen  Kelly  at  Sutton  on  various  occasions, 
the  last  time  being  on  the  evening  previous  to  the 
assault. 

Charles  C.  Dyer,  of  the  same  place,  also  testified 
as  to  Kelly's  identity.  He  said  that  he  had  seen 
him  on  the  race  track,  at  Sutton,  in  July,  had  heard 
him  called  a  horse-buyer  from  Boston,  and  had  re- 
ceived the  impression  that  he  had  come  there  to 
look  at  a  trotting  horse  which  belonged  to  Mr.  Le- 
beau,  the  owner  of  the  track.  He  had  not  consid- 
ered it  anything  strange  that  Howarth  should  be 
carrying  him  around  the  country  to  look  at  horses. 

The  next  witness  was  Silas  H.  Carpenter,  of 
Montreal,  chief  of  the  Canadian  Secret  Service.  He 
said  that  he  had  been  employed  to  investigate  the 
assault  case.  He  had  been  informed  of  a  stranger 
who,  after  staying  in  the  vicinity  of  Sutton  for  some 
time,  had  disappeared  immediately  after  the  assault, 
and  decided  that  he  was  probably  the  guilty  party. 
Had  learned  that  a  man  answering  to  the  description 
of  this  stranger  was  in  Marlboro,  Mass.,  and  to  this 


THE  MARCH  COURT.  169 

place  was  sent  a  neighbor  of  Mr.  Smith's,  who  iden- 
tified Kelly  as  a  man  whom  he  had  seen  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Sutton  Junction  previous  to  the 
assault.  The  witness  and  Mr.  Smith,  after  going 
before  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  obtaining  papers 
for  the  arrest  of  their  man,  proceeded  to  Marlboro. 
At  Fitchburg,  Mass.,  a  warrant  was  made  out  from 
the  papers  which  they  carried,  and  Kelly  was 
arrested.  He  consented  to  go  to  Montreal  without 
extradition,  and  there,  in  Mr.  Carpenter's  office,  re- 
lated voluntarily  the  story  which  he  told  at  the 
preliminary  investigation,  and  on  this  evidence  the 
other  prisoners  were  arrested. 

Mr.  Carpenter's  testimony  was  the  last  on  Tuesday. 

Court  opened  again  at  ten  o'clock  on  Wednesday 
morning.  This  was  expected  to  be  the  last  day  of 
the  trial,  and  a  large  crowd  was  present.  Mr.  J.  F. 
Leonard,  clerk  of  the  court,  was  first  sworn,  and  testi- 
fied to  the  bad  character  of  M.  L.  Jenne,  who  had 
been  indicted  on  Sept.  nth,  1879,  for  assaulting  an 
officer  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty.  The  jury  had 
found  him  guilty  of  common  assault.  Mr.  Leonard 
identified  the  prisoner  Jenne  as  being  the  same  man. 

George  N.  Galer,  a  constable,  confirmed  this  testi- 
mony, and  said  that  he  remembered  having  arrested 
Mr.  Jenne  at  the  time  referred  to. 


I/O  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

The  next  witness  was  Walter  Kelly.  He  described 
how  the  liquor  men  had  obtained  his  services,  and 
told  the  story  of  his  arrival  and  stay  in  Canada,  and 
the  assault  at  Sutton  Junction  much  the  same  as  in 
his  previous  testimony. 

He  stated  that  once  while  he  was  stopping  at  Sut- 
ton it  had  been  feared  that  his  presence  was  exciting 
suspicion,  and  he  had  been  sent  to  Cowansville  for 
a  day. 

He  also  said  that  after  the  assault  he  had  seen 
Howarth  at  Marlboro,  and  told  him  that  he  had 
done  his  work,  but  only  received  a  part  of  the  pay, 
and  Howarth  had  promised  to  see  that  the  remain- 
der was  sent  him.  A  while  after  this  Kelly  had 
heard  that  detectives  were  in  Marlboro  looking  for 
him,  and  Flynn,  the  barkeeper  to  whom  Howarth 
had  written  at  first,  had  advised  him  to  go  away  for 
a  few  days  while  he  (Flynn)  should  write  to  How- 
arth, and  learn  the  facts  of  the  case.  He  went  away, 
and  on  his  return  saw  a  letter  from  Howarth  which 
stated  that  Kelly  had  not  hurt  Smith  at  all,  and  they 
had  been  obliged  to  pay  $30  for  the  use  of  the  team 
which  he  had  while  in  Sutton,  and  now  the  others 
were  "kicking"  and  unwilling  to  pay  any  more. 
Kelly  said  he  supposed  from  this  letter  that  he  had 
done  nothing  for  which  he  could  be  arrested, 


THE  MARCH   COURT,  \'J\ 

and,  therefore,  after  reading  it,  did  not  try  to  hide 
again. 

After  being  arrested  he  was  taken  to  Fitchburg, 
where,  instead  of  wasting  a  month  in  jail  while  wait- 
ing for  extradition,  he  waived  his  claim,  and  went 
with  Mr.  Carpenter,  and  had  since  remained  in  his 
office  in  the  care  of  a  constable.  He  had  told  his 
whole  story  voluntarily ;  Mr.  Carpenter  had  offered 
him  no  inducements  whatever.  Kelly  also  stated 
that  he  had  not  been  instructed  to  kill  Mr.  Smith, 
only  to  scare  him,  and  give  him  a  good  "  licking." 

Wallace  B.  Locklin  was  next  sworn.  He  said  his 
residence  was  at  Richford,  Vt.,  where  he  was  a  notary 
public  and  attorney.  He  had  been  appointed  to  take 
evidence  in  Richford  on  this  assault  case.  He  knew 
Ford,  who  kept  the  livery  stable  at  Richford,  and 
had  asked  him  to  come  to  his  office  and  give  his 
evidence.  Ford  refused  to  come,  and  said,  if  sub- 
poenaed, he  would  pay  his  fine. 

The  next  witness  was  J.  P.  Willey,  of  Abercorn, 
formerly  of  St.  Lawrence  Co.,  N.  Y.  He  was  ex- 
ceedingly unwilling  to  tell  what  he  knew  of  the  case, 
and  it  was  only  by  dint  of  very  close  questioning  that 
his  evidence  was  obtained.  He  knew  Jenne,  the 
hotel  keeper  at  Abercorn.  Had  held  a  conversation 
with  him  in  the  barroom  of  his  hotel,  when  he  asked 


172  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

Jenne  how  much  he  had  been  fined  for  selling  liquor 
without  a  license.  He  replied  that  he  had  had  to 
pay  over  $90,  and  witness  remarked  that  it  was  no 
outsider's  business  if  he  sold  liquor.  Jenne  said  they 
could  not  do  much  with  that  man  Smith ;  they  could 
not  carry  their  goods  over  the  road.  The  remark 
had  been  made  that  Smith  ought  to  be  whipped  or 
killed,  or  sent  out  of  the  country.  Witness  believed 
that  he  had  first  suggested  this,  and  then  Jenne  had 
agreed  with  him,  and  asked  him  if  he  knew  any  one 
in  his  part  of  the  country  who  could  do  such  a  job. 
He  would  not  say  that  Jenne  had  asked  for  a  man 
who  would  "kill"  Mr.  Smith.  Witness  remembered 
having  mentioned  this  conversation  to  three  men, 
and  might  have  spoken  of  it  to  others. 

Arthur  Holmes,  of  Abercorn,  sworn,  said  that  he 
had  heard  of  the  assault  on  Mr.  Smith.  Had  under- 
stood that  Jenne  was  away  when  these  prosecutions 
began.  Said  they  had  all  supposed  that  Smith  was 
the  prosecutor  in  the  liquor  cases. 

Albert  E.  Kimball,  a  hotel  keeper  of  Knowlton, 
said  he  knew  there  were  prosecutions  for  liquor  sell- 
ing. He  was  fined,  so  was  Jenne,  also  Wilson  of 
Sutton. 

He  was  asked  :  "  Do  you  know  of  any  scheme  to 
get  even  with  Mr.  Smith?"  Mr.  Racicot  objected 


THE  MARCH  COURT.  173 

to  this  question.  Mr.  Kimball  said  it  had  been  re- 
marked in  the  barroom  that  Smith  was  a  "mean 
cuss,"  and  should  be  whipped.  It  was  barroom 
talk. 

This  is  a  strong  testimony,  coming  from  a  hotel 
keeper,  as  to  the  nature  of  barroom  adjectives  and 
compliments,  especially  when  applied  to  temperance 
people. 

Edward  Martin,  of  Sutton,  was  the  next  witness. 
He  was  occasionally  employed  by  Wilson,  and 
looked  after  his  business  in  his  absence.  Was  sent 
for  one  day  in  August,  and  asked  to  look  after  the 
house,  as  Wilson  was  going  away  for  a  few  days. 
He  could  not  say  how  long  he  was  gone. 

Next  Mrs.  James  Wilson,  of  Sutton,  testified  for 
the  defence.  Her  maiden  name  was  Etta  Miltemore, 
and  she  had  been  married  to  James  Wilson  eight 
years  previous  to  the  trial.  She  said  she  had  heard 
of  the  affair  at  Sutton  Junction  through  Mr.  Smith's 
brother,  who  drove  up  about  six  or  seven  o'clock  on 
Sunday  morning,  and  told  that  his  brother  had  been 
assaulted  the  night  before.  On  the  Saturday  previ- 
ous she  had  been  with  her  husband  at  Glen  Sutton, 
and  about  noon  he  had  complained  of  feeling  bad. 
They  drove  to  Sutton  in  the  afternoon,  and  he  was 
sick  when  they  reached  home.  Her  aunt,  Mrs. 


THE   STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

Vance,  was  there,  and  also  Henry  Wilson  and  wife. 
They  put  Jim  to  bed,  and  doctored  him,  and  he  did 
not  leave  his  room  during  the  evening  or  night.  As 
he  seemed  worse  about  half-past  one,  she  called 
Henry  Wilson  and  wife,  who  got  up  and  remained 
up  the  rest  of  the  night,  but  they  did  not  call  a  doctor. 

Mrs.  Vance  was  the  next  witness.  She  said  her 
maiden  name  was  Annie  Fay,  and  she  was  the  wife 
of  Beeman  Vance.  She  was  acquainted  with  James 
Wilson,  and  was  aunt  to  his  wife.  She  had  gone  on 
July  7th  to  call  on  Mrs.  Wilson,  and  found  that  she 
and  her  husband  were  away,  and  Henry  Wilson  and 
wife  were  there. 

James  Wilson  came  home  sick.  Witness  remained 
at  his  house  until  nearly  nine  o'clock,  and  when  she 
left  he  was  a  little  better,  but  still  very  sick. 

She  had  known  Mr.  Smith  for  years.  After  the 
assault,  she  had  one  day  met  him  at  church,  and 
congratulated  him  on  his  recovery,  when  he  told  her 
that  he  had  no  idea  who  committed  the  act.  She 
said  she  had  frequently  seen  James  Wilson  ill,  and 
had  practised  as  nurse. 

Henry  Wilson,  following,  said  that  he  lived  at  Glen 
Sutton,  and  was  brother  to  James  Wilson.  He  re- 
membered the  day  of  the  assault,  and  knew  it  was  in 
the  summer,  but  could  not  tell  the  month.  He  had 


THE  MARCH  COURT.  1/5 

gone  to  his  father's  on  Saturday  morning,  and  re- 
mained there  until  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day. 
James  and  his  wife  were  away  when  he  reached  their 
home,  but  returned  Saturday  afternoon.  James  was 
very  sick.  About  eleven  o'clock  witness  helped  un- 
dress him  and  put  him  to  bed,  and  about  half-past 
one  he  was  called  up  by  Mrs.  James  Wilson.  Next 
morning  the  news  came  that  Smith  had  got  a  licking. 

Mrs.  Henry  Wilson's  testimony  was  a  confirma- 
tion of  her  husband's,  and  was  the  last  given  on 
Wednesday. 

More  evidence  was  promised  for  the  next  day,  and 
the  court  adjourned  till  the  following  morning  at  ten 
o'clock. 

The  first  witness  on  Thursday  was  Peter  McGet- 
trick,  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  agent  at  Richford, 
Vt.  He  said  he  had  been  the  Richford  agent  in  July, 
when  Mr.  Smith,  also,  was  agent  at  Sutton  Junction. 
Witness  knew  Frank  Brady  and  W.  W.  Smith.  When 
he  heard  of  the  assault  he  informed  Mr.  Brady,  and 
they  went  together  to  visit  Mr.  Smith,  whom  they 
found  in  bed  suffering  from  the  effects  of  his  injuries. 
In  conversation  with  them  Mr.  Smith  told  them  that 
he  did  not  know  who  had  committed  the  deed,  but 
from  the  appearance  of  the  man  thought  it  might 
have  been  James  Wilson,  one  of  the  prisoners. 


176  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

William  Sears,  of  Sutton,  a  brother-in-law  of  Mr. 
Smith,  testified  that  he  had  been  sent  for  by  the  lat- 
ter on  Sunday  morning  after  the  assault,  and  went  to 
him  at  once.  Mr.  Smith  told  him  that  he  did  not 
know  who  was  his  assailant,  but  it  was  a  heavy  man 
who  walked  with  a  peculiar  gait.  Witness  was  with 
Mr.  Smith  while  Mr.  Brady  and  Mr.  McGettrick  were 
there,  but  heard  no  conversation  such  as  was  related 
by  the  previous  witness. 

James  E.  Ireland,  telegraph  operator  at  Sutton, 
who  was  the  next  witness,  said  that  he  had  been  night 
operator  on  July  8th,  and  had  received  a  telegram 
for  Dr.  McDonald,  asking  him  to  come  to  Sutton 
Junction  immediately,  as  Mr.  Smith  had  been  as- 
saulted. Another  message  had  been  sent  to  James 
H.  Smith,  telling  of  the  affair,  and  requesting  him  to 
be  on  the  watch.  He  could  not  produce  the  record 
of  the  dispatches,  but  told  them  as  he  remembered 
them. 

James  H.  Smith,  also  of  Sutton,  a  brother  of 
W.  W.  Smith,  was  then  sworn.  He  said  he  had  been 
notified  of  the  assault  by  telegram  about  two  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  July  8th.  The  message  which  he 
had  received  was  as  follows : 

"W.  W.  Smith  is  badly  hurt.  Get  Homer  and 
others  to  watch  the  roads." 


THE  MARCH  COURT.  1 77 

He  went  for  the  man  mentioned,  and  then  learned 
that  Mr.  Ireland  had  received  a  message  asking  that 
Wilson's  hotel  be  watched.  No  light  was  seen  in  the 
house  there,  but  L.  L.  Jenne  was  appointed  to  watch 
the  place.  Witness  had  seen  Kelly  four  or  five  days 
before  the  assault  driving  a  team  which  he  supposed 
to  be  Wilson's.  He  had  thought  it  strange,  but  could 
not  say  that  he  had  felt  any  suspicion.  He  had  sup- 
posed the  team  to  be  Wilson's  because  he  had  noticed 
the  latter  driving  it  at  different  times  during  the  sum- 
mer. He  had  seen  James  Wilson  the  night  before 
the  assault,  walking  on  the  street  towards  the  post 
office,  and  Wilson  had  spoken  to  him.  He  had  also 
seen  Kelly  at  that  time  with  a  team. 

Lewis  L.  Jenne,  a  clerk  for  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  at  Sutton,  testified  that  he  knew  the  prison- 
ers, and  was  distantly  connected  with  one  of  them, 
M.  L.  Jenne,  of  Abercorn.  He  had  been  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  for  seven  years. 
On  the  morning  of  July  8th,  at  about  two  o'clock,  he 
was  awakened  by  James  H.  Smith  and  another  man, 
who  told  him  what  had  happened.  Witness  had 
taken  it  as  his  work  to  watch  Wilson's  hotel,  but  saw 
no  light  or  stir  about  the  house.  If  any  light  had 
been  there  he  must  have  seen  it,  as  he  had  on  many 
nights  before  and  since. 


178  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT, 

During  cross-examination  he  said  that  he  had 
watched  the  hotel  on  the  night  in  question,  from  a 
little  after  two  o'clock  until  morning.  A  swift  horse 
could  go  from  Sutton  Junction  to  Sutton  in  ten  or 
fifteen  minutes.  Witness  had  not  tried  to  enter  Wil- 
son's house,  but  had  watched  outside.  He  had 
heard  that  the  Wilsons  threatened  Smith,  and  was 
quite  sure  he  had  heard  it  said  that  they  were  mixed 
up  with  this  affair. 

Walter  Kelly,  being  then  recalled,  said  that  he 
had  seen  Wilson  on  Saturday  night,  July  7th,  be- 
tween seven  and  eight  o'clock,  near  Curley's  hotel, 
going  towards  the  post  office.  He  also  stated  that 
once  he  had  driven  Wilson's  team  on  the  road  where 
James  Smith  claimed  to  have  met  him  with  it. 

This  completed  the  evidence  in  the  case. 

Mr.  Racicot,  counsel  for  defence,  then  addressed 
the  jury,  quoting  all  the  points  of  law  which  might 
seem  to  have  a  bearing  in  favor  of  the  prisoners,  and 
making  an  eloquent  plea  which  lasted  one  hour  and 
twenty  minutes. 

Hon.  G.  B.  Baker,  Q.  C.,  quoted  the  law  on  the 
other  side,  proving  quite  clearly  that  the  prisoners 
were  deserving  of  punishment.  He  laid  great  im- 
portance on  the  facts  that  Kelly's  evidence  had  not 
been  contradicted,  and  that,  while  Henry  Wilson  had 


THE  MARCH  COURT.  179 

told  of  getting  up  at  half-past  one,  and  lighting  a  lamp 
which  he  said  had  been  left  burning  in  the  kitchen 
until  morning,  the  witness  Jenne  had  stated  that  he 
watched  the  house  without  seeing  any  light,  as  he 
must  surely  have  done  had  there  been  one  to  see. 

Judge  Lynch  followed  with  a  very  earnest  address 
which  lasted  about  forty-five  minutes.  He  summed 
up  the  evidence  in  the  case,  and  quoted  the  laws 
bearing  on  it,  reminding  the  jurors  of  their  great 
responsibility,  and  endeavoring  to  impress  upon  their 
minds  the  importance  of  a  righteous  judgment.  His 
speech  was  not  at  all  in  favor  of  the  accused. 

The  jury  then  retired,  and  forty-five  minutes  later, 
when  the  judge  demanded  their  verdict,  the  sheriff 
reported  that  they  did  not  ag-ee,  and  there  was  no 
possibility  of  their  doing  so  that  night.  This  was 
announced  to  the  waiting  crowd,  who  had  thronged 
the  court  room  to  hear  the  decision.  Court  then 
adjourned,  and  the  jury  were  locked  up  for  another 
night. 

On  Friday  morning,  March  8th,  the  jury  were 
again  summoned,  and  stated  that  they  were  still  una- 
ble to  agree  upon  a  verdict.  The  judge  appeared 
both  surprised  and  disgusted.  In  dismissing  them 
he  said:  "Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  while  you  have 
exercised  the  discretion  which  the  law  allows  you,  I 


ISO  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

must  pronounce  your  decision  most  extraordinary. 
The  public  are  indignant  that  in  a  case  where  evi- 
dence is  so  clear,  there  should  be  doubt  or  hesitation 
in  the  mind  of  any  intelligent  man  who  should  be 
summoned  on  a  jury." 

Mr.  Baker,  Q.  C.,  moved  that  a  new  jury  be  em- 
panelled at  once  to  proceed  with  another  trial.  Mr. 
Racicot  seemed  willing,  but  Justice  Lynch  postponed 
such  proceedings  until  Monday,  March  nth. 

In  the  meantime,  on  Sunday,  friends  of  the  accused 
and  of  the  liquor  party  in  general  were  seen  driving 
in  the  direction  of  Sweetsburg,  and  it  was  thought  by 
some  that  a  plan  might  be  forming  to  secure  easy 
terms  for  the  prisoners. 

On  Monday  morning  many  anxious  people  were 
awaiting  the  issue,  and  previous  to  the  opening  of 
court  it  was  noticed  that  the  crown  prosecutor  was 
absent,  and  soon  the  counsel  for  defence  also  disap- 
peared. On  their  return,  it  is  said,  the  latter  wore  a 
look  of  satisfaction,  while  the  former's  courage  of 
last  week  seemed  to  have  in  some  degree  deserted 
him. 

When  the  judge  had  taken  his  seat,  Mr.  Racicot 
stated  that  his  clients  were  now  willing  to  withdraw 
their  former  pleas  of  "  not  guilty,"  and  acknowledge 
themselves  "guilty  of  common  assault." 


THE  MARCH  COURT.  l8l 

Then  the  lawyer  for  the  Crown,  who  had  on  Fri- 
day been  so  eager  to  proceed  with  a  new  trial  at  once, 
but  who  now  seemed  to  fear  that  another  jury  would 
mean  only  a  second  disagreement,  assented  to  this 
proposal;  while  the  judge,  who  had  given  such  a 
strong  charge  to  the  jury  and  appeared  so  much  sur- 
prised at  their  failure  to  declare  the  prisoners  guilty, 
now  agreed,  on  behalf  of  the  court,  to  withdraw  the 
indictments  for  "attempt  to  murder,"  and  accept  the 
pleas,  "  guilty  of  common  assault." 

John  Howarth,  Marcus  L.  Jenne  and  James  Wil- 
son then  pleaded  "guilty  of  common  assault,"  while 
Walter  Kelly  was  indicted  on  a  charge  of  "commit- 
ting assault  with  intent  to  murder."  However,  he 
also  pleaded  "guilty  of  common  assault,"  and  the 
plea  was  accepted. 

Then  Mr.  Racicot,  not  content  with  what  had 
already  been  gained,  asked  for  the  leniency  of  the 
court  towards  the  prisoners  in  giving  sentence  for 
the  charges  to  which  they  had  pleaded  guilty,  and  the 
judge  appointed  to  each  of  the  four  prisoners  the  light 
sentence  of  one  month's  imprisonment  in  common 
jail  with  hard  labor,  accompanying  this  sentence, 
however,  by  some  very  severe  remarks  as  to  the  seri- 
ousness of  their  crime,  and  the  disgrace  it  had  brought 
upon  themselves. 


1 82  THE   STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

Thus  ended  this  assault  case,  so  far  as  its  hearing 
at  Sweetsburg  was  concerned,  and  the  prisoners  and 
their  friends  departed  from  the  court  room  well 
pleased  with  its  termination. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   DECISIONS   OF  ANOTHER  TRIBUNAL. 

The  Court  of  Public  Opinion  is  an  important  tri- 
bunal before  which  all  such  affairs  as  this  we  have 
been  considering  must  come  for  decision,  and  its 
judgments  are  not  always  identical  with  those  of  the 
judges  and  juries  in  the  courts  of  law.  Therefore,  it 
must  not  be  supposed  that  the  temperance  public 
were  at  all  satisfied  with  the  termination  of  the  assault 
case  related  in  our  last  chapter.  On  the  contrary, 
they  were  quite  disappointed  and  indignant,  although 
their  opponents  seemed  very  well  pleased  with  the 
turn  affairs  had  taken. 

Some  of  the  criticisms  from  temperance  papers  and 
people  are  here  given.  The  following  comment  by 
the  Montreal  Witness  was  quoted  in  The  Templar  of 
March  22d : 

"The  sentence  of  one  month  in  jail  for  each  of  the 
tavern  keepers,  who  pleaded  guilty  to  having  procured 


184  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

an  American  idler  to  committ  an  atrocious  assault 
upon  Mr.  Smith,  the  President  of  the  Brome  County 
Alliance,  is  probably  as  severe  as  can  be  looked  for 
in  a  county  where  a  jury  dare  not  find  men  guilty. 
That  the  purpose  was  to  commit  murder,  the  fatal 
weapon  provided  proves.  The  plea  of  guilty  on  the 
part  of  the  prisoners  is  a  plain  condemnation  of  the 
jury  in  failing  to  bring  in  a  verdict. 

"The  liquor  men,  for  the  sake  of  whose  illicit  trade 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company  dismissed 
Mr.  Smith  from  its  services,  are  self-convicted  at  least 
of  the  most  dangerous  and  brutal  ruffianism.  Mr. 
Brady,  who  took  the  part  of  those  customers  of  the 
Company  against  his  own  subordinate,  Mr.  Smith, 
remains  the  accredited  authority  of  the  Company  in 
that  section  of  the  country.  This  is  a  fact  which 
should  be  generally  known." 

Below  is  the  view  expressed  by  The  Templar,  it- 
self, and  also  repeated  by  the  Witness. 

"The  result  of  the  trial  of  the  conspirators  to  'do 
up' W.  W.  Smith,  President  of  the  Brome  County 
Branch  of  the  Dominion  Alliance,  for  his  zeal  in 
bringing  to  justice  the  men  who  would  persist  in 
maintaining  an  illicit  liquor  traffic  contrary  to  the 
fully  expressed  judgment  of  the  people,  has  been  a 
confession  of  'guilty'  by  the  accused,  and  the  impo- 
sition a  sentence  of  one  month  in  jail  at  hard  labor. 

"The  confession  and  the  facts  brought  out  in  evi- 
dence reveal  the  liquor  traffic  in  a  most  unenviable 
light. 


THE  DECISIONS  OF  ANOTHER    TRIBUNAL.        185 

"The  plot  was  hatched  in  a  barroom,  a  liquor 
seller  hired  a  Marlboro,  Mass.,  bartender  to  do  the 
•job/  and  he  was  the  guest  of  hotel  keepers  while  he 
was  spying  out  the  land  preparatory  to  his  murder- 
ous assault.  Never  was  a  more  cool,  calculating  and 
infamous  deed  wrought  in  this  country.  The  wretch, 
Chatelle,  acted  under  a  sudden  impulse  to  gratify  an 
abnormal  passion,  but  these  wretches  planned  weeks 
ahead  to  'do  up'  Smith,  yet  such  cowards  were  they, 
they  dared  not  strike  the  blow,  but  hired  the  Marl- 
boro tool  to  do  it  for  them.  Jenne,  Howarth  and 
Wilson,  you  are  arrant  cowards,  and  your  weakness 
is  only  exceeded  by  the  devilishness  of  your  malice  ! 

"  These  are  the  men  who  say  we  cannot  enforce 
prohibition,  and  undertake  to  make  the  law  a  dead 
letter.  Men  who  will  murder — no,  they  lack  that 
courage,  but  will  hire  the  slugger — if  they  are  not 
permitted  to  carry  out  their  work  of  death.  Shall 
we  make  our  laws  to  please,  or  to  restrain  and  punish 
such  men? 

"Not  the  least  ignominious  feature  of  the  trial  was 
the  failure  of  the  jury  to  convict  upon  the  clearest 
evidence.  Their  disagreement  was  rebuked  by  Judge 
Lynch,  and  later  by  the  prisoners  themselves  plead- 
ing guilty.  The  murderous  assault  and  the  terroriz- 
ing of  the  jury  furnish  all  the  evidence  that  is  requi- 
site to  justify  the  demand  for  prohibition." 

The  Witness  of  March  i6th  contained  the  follow- 
ing, giving  the  opinions  of  certain  local  papers  re- 
specting the  decisions  of  the  court  in  this  trial : 


1 86  THE   STORY  OP  A   DARK  PLOT. 

"The  Huntingdon  Gleaner,  referring  to  the  sen- 
tence of  a  month's  imprisonment  passed  on  the  de- 
fendants in  the  Smith  assault  case,  says:  'This  is  a 
most  inadequate  punishment.  Had  Kelly  put  more 
force  into  the  first  blow  he  struck  with  his  piece  of 
lead  pipe,  Smith  would  assuredly  have  been  killed. 
The  liquor  men,  who  were  the  authors  of  the  foul 
deed,  should  have  been  sent  to  the  penitentiary.' 

"  Referring  to  the  disgraceful  conduct  of  the  jurors 
in  disagreeing,  despite  Kelly's  confession,  the  Water- 
loo Advertiser  says:  'The  jury  might,  at  least,  have 
brought  in  the  verdict  of  a  Western  jury  that  tried  a 
man  for  assault  with  intent  to  kill.  After  being  out 
two  minutes  the  jury  filed  into  court,  and  the  fore- 
man said :  "  May  it  please  the  court,  we,  the  jury, 
find  that  the  prisoner  is  not  guilty  of  hitting  with  in- 
tent to  kill,  but  simply  to  paralyze,  and  he  done  it." 
The  trial  has  been  an  expensive  one  to  the  Crown, 
and  its  inglorious  ending  will  hardly  satisfy  the  pub- 
lic that  the  ends  of  justice  have  been  served  and  the 
law  vindicated.' " 

The  following  appeared  as  an  editorial  in  the  Wit- 
ness of  March  2/th : 

"  We  have  received  many  very  strong  expressions 
with  regard  to  the  failure  of  justice  in  the  matter  of 
the  cold-blooded  and  cowardly  attempt  on  the  life  of 
Mr.  W.  W.  Smith,  the  President  of  the  Brome  County 
Alliance.  A  leading  citizen  of  the  district  proposes 


THE  DECISIONS  OF  ANOTHER    TRIBUNAL.        187 

a  public  demonstration  to  denounce  the  jury  and 
judge  for  this  failure.  As  for  the  judge,  as  we  said 
at  the  time,  we  cannot  see  that  he  can  be  blamed 
much  for  the  lightness  of  the  sentence  upon  a  verdict 
for  only  common  assault.  So  far  as  can  be  gathered 
from  the  conduct  of  their  representatives  on  the  jury 
the  people  of  the  district  have  concluded  to  live  in  a 
condition  of  timid  subjection  to  a  band  of  assassins 
settled  among  them.  And  not  only  they,  but  the 
great  national  railway,  which  passes  through  their 
district,  felt  called  upon,  on  behalf  of  the  same  law- 
less crew,  to  heap  abuse  and  obloquy  upon,  and 
finally  to  dismiss  one  of  its  own  officers  for  busying 
himself  with  the  enforcement  of  law  against  them. 
We  should  be  greatly  cheered  to  think  that  this  jury 
which  betrayed  the  public  safety  committed  to  it  by 
law,  was  exceptional,  and  that  the  district  could  yet 
be  roused  to  vindicate  law  and  order." 

In  all  these  articles  it  is  assumed  that  the  reason 
of  the  jurymen  not  agreeing  on  a  verdict  of  guilty 
was  their  personal  fear  of  the  liquor  men.  There  is 
another  possible  aspect  of  the  case  which  is  not 
touched  upon  by  these  papers,  viz.,  that  the  jurors 
may  have  been  friends  of  the  liquor  party,  and  their 
disagreement  may  have  been  intended  not  to  secure 
their  own  safety,  but  to  shield  the  hotel  keepers 
from  such  punishment  as  must  follow  a  decision  of 
guilty  on  the  part  of  the  jury. 


1 88  THE   STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

We  quote  here  some  of  the  communications  men- 
tioned above,  which  were  sent  to  the  editor  of  the 
Witness  regarding  the  settlement  of  the  assault  case. 
The  letter  given  below,  signed  "Justice,"  was  written 
from  Sweetsburg  under  date  of  March  I2th,  1895  : 

"  SIR, — The  Smith  assault  case  is  concluded,  but 
the  people  are  not  done  talking  about  it,  by  any 
means ;  and  for  some  time  to  come  the  privilege  of 
free  speech  will  be  exercised  on  that  case.  The 
judge  in  his  charge  to  the  jury  on  Thursday  said : 
'No  intelligent  and  right-minded  jury  can  fail  to 
bring  in  a  verdict  in  accordance  with  the  testimony.' 
The  evidence  for  the  prosecution  proved  unmistak- 
ably the  guilt  of  the  prisoners,  while  the  testimony 
for  the  defence  was  evidently  manufactured  for  the 
occasion. 

"The  prisoners  on  Monday  pleaded  guilty  to  com- 
mon assault.  If  Howarth,  Jenne,  Wilson  and  Kelly 
were  guilty  of  anything,  they  were  guilty  of  more 
than  common  assault,  if  ever  there  was  a  deliberate 
and  well-planned  scheme  for  4  doing  up'  any  person, 
that  plan  was  made  in  this  instance,  and  the  nail  was 
clinched  when  Howarth,  at  Richford,  paid  to  Kelly 
the  fifteen  dollars  earnest  money,  which  was  to  be 
followed  later  by  the  hundred  and  fifty  when  the 
'job' was  done.  That 'job!'  Such  a 'job' as  that! 
An  assassin  hired  for  the  purpose,  by  villains  blacker- 
hearted  than  himself,  to  go  in  the  middle  of  the 
night,  armed  with  a  murderous  weapon,  to  attack  a 


THE  DECISIONS  OF  ANOTHER   TRIBUNAL.         189 

defenceless  and  sleeping  man,  to '  do  him  up.'  What 
does  that  mean  ?  Who  is  initiated  into  the  mysteries 
of  the  language?  Does  it  mean  to  disable  him?  or 
does  it  mean  to  kill  him?  Who  is  safe  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duty  and  in  the  performance  of  the 
God-given  work  to  which  every  Christian  man  is 
called  ? 

"  If  the  law  protects  a  rumseller  who  has  a  license 
in  his  business  of  selling  the  liquid  poison,  should  not 
that  same  law  protect  a  man  who,  residing  in  a  town 
where  the  Scott  Act  is  in  force,  prosecutes  liquor 
sellers  who  are  dealing  contrary  to  the  laws?  Let 
us  have  fair  play!  If  the  law  is  like  a  game  of 
checkers,  in  which,  not  the  best  man,  not  the  right- 
eous cause  wins,  but  the  party  wins  who  makes  the 
most  dexterous  move,  then  the  least  we  can  ask  is 
fair  play. 

"What  have  we  seen  in  the  courts  during  the  past 
week?  One  man  arrested  for  stealing  a  dollar's 
worth  of  goods  or  so,  and  that  man  jailed  for  fif- 
teen months.  In  contrast  to  this  case,  we  see  these 
men  with  their  murderous  schemes,  deliberately 
planned,  attempted  and  partially  executed,  we  see 
these  men  condemned  to  one  month's  imprisonment 
with  hard  labor !  What  a  farce  is  the  law !  Is  it 
any  wonder  that  indignation  is  aroused  in  the  hearts 
of  the  conscientious  and  God-fearing  members  of  the 
community,  and  that  men  as  they  meet  ask  each 
other  the  question,  'Why  is  this?  Did  the  jury 
fear  that  they,  too,  might  be  exposed  to  a  sudden 
attack  of  lead  pipe  ? ' 


I9O  THE  STORY   OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

"If  it  is  cowardly  to  shirk  an  issue  on  a  point  be- 
tween right  and  wrong,  then  we  certainly  have  moral 
cowards  here,  in  the  district  of  Bedford.  However, 
there  is  this  to  comfort  the  heart  of  the  right-minded 
citizen ;  punishment  does  not  altogether  consist  in 
the  number  of  days  spent  in  jail,  but  the  disgrace  to 
which  these  men  have  been  subjected  can  never  be 
wiped  out  nor  removed. 

"The  investigation  of  the  case  was  thorough,  and 
the  crime  proven  unmistakably  against  those  four 
men.  It  will  undoubtedly  prove  a  warning  to 
others,  and,  we  may  say,  to  themselves  also,  in  the 
future." 

Another  letter,  written  by  a  "  Law- Abiding  Cana- 
dian," and  published  in  the  Witness  of  March  25th, 
is  as  follows : 

"SlR, — Many  have  been  surprised  and  disap- 
pointed at  the  silence  that  has  prevailed  in  our 
newspapers  since  the  verdict  of  the  jury  in  the  W. 
W.  Smith  attempt  to  murder  or  'do  up '  case.  In- 
stead of  a  resolute  onslaught  of  protests  from  the 
people  through  the  press  and  by  public  bodies,  all  is 
comparatively  quiet. 

"  What  is  the  reason  of  this  ?  Is  it  that  they  are 
paralyzed  with  surprise  and  horror  for  the  time  be- 
ing? It  surely  must  be  so.  If  not,  it  is  time  we 
were  asking  where  we  are  and  what  we  are  coming 
to.  Sir,  our  ears  are  made  to  tingle,  and  our  hearts 
are  thrilled  with  horror,  when  we  read  of  the  wild 
lynchings  by  shooting,  rope  or  burning,  that  have 


THE  DECISIONS  OF  ANOTHER   TRIBUNAL.        191 

taken  place  in  the  United  States.  These  dreadful 
things  are  reported  from  new  States  or  in  old  ones, 
where  race  feeling  runs  high,  and  where  justice,  often 
handicapped  by  all  the  lawlessness  and  savage  cru- 
elty and  ignorance  of  both  a  home  and  foreign  ele- 
ment, fails  for  the  time  being,  and  we  complacently 
say:  'It  is  just  like  the  United  States.  What  an 
awful  country  it  must  be  to  live  in  ! '  Are  we  going 
back  to  such  a  state  of  things  ?  Has  it  come  to  such 
a  pass  that  law  and  justice  are  becoming  a  mockery? 
God  forbid  that  it  should  ever  come  to  this,  but 
something  must  be  done  that  not  only  our  persons 
and  property  may  be  protected,  but  that  our  belief 
that  we  have  and  hold  in  this  Canada  of  ours  that 
British  justice  and  fair  play  that  is  world-wide  in  its 
administration,  and  ever  the  same. 

"There  is  no  doubt  that  the  brand  of  public  opin- 
ion on  these  individuals  for  their  self-confessed  and 
clearly  proven  guilt,  if  they  have  any  conscience  left,^ 
will  be  terrible,  and  make  them  bury  themselves 
away  forever  from  the  community  and  public  that 
their  acts  have  horrified.  But  the  matter  must  not 
end  here.  A  great  wrong  to  an  individual  and  soci- 
ety has  been  done,  and  the  public  may  well  ask  who 
will  it  be  next ;  and  whose  person  or  property  is  safe 
if  such  lawlessness  is  allowed  to  go  unpunished. 
Let  the  lawkeepers  be  heard  from  in  a  way  that  will 
make  our  lawmakers  enquire  into  our  jury  system, 
and  devise  some  way  to  prevent  the  miscarriage  of 
justice  and  consequent  grievious  wrong  done  to  in- 
dividuals and  the  people." 


192  THE  STORY  OF  A   DARK  PLOT. 

The  following  from  "One  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.," 
appeared  in  the  Home  Department  of  the  Witness 
of  March  23d: 

"DEAR  EDITOR  HOME  DEPARTMENT, — Though 
I  enjoy  reading  the  Home  Department,  I  have  never 
before  written  anything  for  it,  as  writing  is  not  my 
forte,  but  I  feel  almost  compelled  to  send  this  to  ex- 
press my  indignation  at  the  light  sentence  passed  on 
those  three  men  in  the  Smith  assault  case.  I  think 
it  perfectly  outrageous  that  they  should  get  off  so 
easily.  Such  a  crime,  perpetrated  in  cold  blood ; 
even  a  man  hired  and  brought  from  a  distance  to  do 
the  diabolical  work !  Ten  years  in  the  penitentiary 
for  each  of  them  would  have  been  quite  light  enough. 
But  to  give  them  one  month  at  hard  labor,  they 
might  about  as  well  have  let  them  go  free.  If  Mr. 
Smith  had  been  killed  I  wonder  if  they  would  have 
got  two  months?  It  seems  to  me  this  is  the  way  to 
encourage  crime.  How  is  it  that  for  so  much  lighter 
crimes,  so  much  heavier  sentence  is  often  pro- 
nounced? Is  it  because  the  people  are  afraid  of  the 
liquor  men?  It  seems  like  it. 

"  I  am  heartily  thankful  that  the  Witness  stands 
up  so  nobly  for  truth  and  right.  I  know  I  will  see 
a  scathing  article  from  the  editor  on  this  very  sub- 
ject. I  hope  it  will  do  all  the  good  he  intends  it 
to  do. 

"We  may  be  sure  of  one  thing,  and  that  is  the 
liquor  men  never  did  the  cause  of  prohibition  so 
much  good  before.  Their  brutality  in  this  case  will 


THE  DECISIONS  OP  ANOTHER    TRIBUNAL.        193 

likely  win  many  to  our  cause  who  would  otherwise 
not  have  joined  us." 

The  following  protest,  signed  "A  Lover  of  Right," 
was  published  in  the  Witness  of  April  5th: 

"  SIR, — Would  it  not  be  feasible  to  have  a  public 
meeting  in  the  matter  of  the  gross  miscarriage  of 
justice  in  the  case  of  the  would-be  murderer  of  Mr. 
W.  W.  Smith,  of  Sutton. 

"  Shameful  as  of  late  years  the  decisions  of  some 
juries  and  judges  have  been,  never  has  a  more 
shameful  acquittal  been  known  in  this  Canada  of 
ours.  One  man  gets  six  months  for  stealing  an  ash 
barrel,  probably  really  ignorant  that  it  was  not  any- 
body's who  chose  to  take  it;  another  man  'one 
month  with  hard  labor,'  that  man  by  his  own  confes- 
sion a  would-be  murderer.  But  that  such  sentence 
should  be  allowed  without  public  protest !  Surely 
the  soul  of  righteousness  is  dead  in  a  people  if  it 
be  so." 

Now  that  the  assault  case  was  settled,  in  spite  of 
its  unsatisfactory  termination,  the  temperance  people 
found  the  expenses  connected  with  it,  which  amounted 
altogether  to  more  than  $1,200,  remaining  for  them 
to  settle. 

It  was  decided  to  ask  the  government  at  Quebec 
to  assume  these  costs,  or  a  share  of  them,  and  ac- 
cordingly Mr.  Carson,  Secretary  of  the  Provincial 


194  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

Alliance,  wrote  to  the  government  requesting  its 
help ;  but,  no  reply  being  received,  arrangements 
were  made  for  a  delegation  to  wait  upon  the  pre- 
mier. This  was  done  on  April  24th,  the  Alliance 
representatives  being  Mr.  R.  C.  Smith,  Mr.  S.  J. 
Carter,  Rev.  J.  McKillican  and  Mr.  J.  H.  Carson. 
The  case  was  clearly  stated,  and  the  provincial  gov- 
ernment, of  which  all  the  members  were  present,  was 
asked  to  bear  a  portion  of  the  expenses.  The  dele- 
gation acknowledged  that  the  proper  course  would 
have  been  to  leave  the  matter  in  the  hands  of  the 
attorney-general  at  first,  yet,  although  this  had  not 
been  done,  as  the  temperance  people,  considering 
this  affair  of  much  more  than  individual  interest,  felt 
themselves  morally  bound  to  see  that  these  expenses 
were  paid,  and  not  to  leave  all  the  burden  upon  the 
shoulders  of  Mr.  Smith ;  and  as,  at  a  recent  Provin- 
cial Alliance  Convention,  it  had  been  decided  that 
this  was  a  matter  which  concerned  the  temperance 
people  of  the  whole  Province,  the  delegation  asked 
in  the  name  of  the  temperance  people  of  Quebec 
that  the  government  assume  the  expenses  connected 
with  the  vindication  of  justice  in  this  case.  Mr. 
Carter  Stated  that,  although  he  had  no  authority  to 
say  so,  he  thought  if  the  government  paid  Mr. 
Carpenter's  bill,  which  amounted  to  about  $800, 


THE  DECISIONS   OF  ANOTHER    TRIBUNAL.         195 

the  temperance  people  would  consent  to  raise  the 
remainder. 

The  attorney-general,  Hon.  Mr.  Casgrain,  said  he 
thought  this  might  be  done,  and  without  any  further 
assurances  the  Alliance  representatives  withdrew. 

Later  the  government  consented  to  pay  $500  of 
the  costs  only,  and  the  balance  remained  to  be  can- 
celled by  the  temperance  public. 

The  assault  case  is  now  ended,  and  lies  some  time 
in  the  past,  and  in  these  hurrying  times  an  event  of 
a  few  seasons  ago  is  usually  soon  gone  out  of  thought 
and  interest.  Probably  no  such  affair  has  ever  hap- 
pened in  the  Dominion,  or  at  least  in  the  Eastern 
townships,  which  has  stirred  the  depths  of  so  many 
hearts,  and  continued  in  interest  for  so  long  a  time 
as  this  assault  and  the  circumstances  connected  with 
it.  And  now  shall  we  relegate  these  matters  to  a 
position  among  the  dim  memories  of  the  almost  for- 
getten  past,  and  let  them  gradually  slip  away  from 
our  thoughts?  Even  in  these  times  of  changing  and 
forgetting,  there  are  events  which,  by  a  few,  are  not 
soon  forgotten,  and  which  leave  a  lasting  influence 
for  good  or  evil  upon  some  hearts  and  lives.  Shall 
it  not  be  so  in  this  case?  Will  not  we  long  remem- 
ber the  dark  plotting  of  Brome  County's  lawless 
liquor  sellers,  the  desperate  attempts  to  carry  out 


196  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT. 

their  evil  plans  and  the  partial  success  which  at- 
tended their  efforts,  and  shall  not  the  memory  bring 
fresh  zeal  and  energy  to  every  son  and  daughter  of 
temperance  in  the  land? 

We  find  in  this  assault  case  a  very  marked  exam- 
ple of  some  of  the  fruits  of  intemperance.  We  see 
here  the  evil  thoughts,  the  loss  of  conscience,  and 
the  desperation  that  makes  men  shrink  not  from  the 
darkest  deed  within  their  reach  if  by  this  they  may 
further  their  own  interests  or  gain  revenge  upon  one 
who  has  opposed  them.  All  these  are  the  attend- 
ants and  followers  of  strong  drink  in  every  clime. 

From  the  history  of  these  deeds  of  darkness  in 
Brome  County  we  may  learn,  also,  the  power  pos- 
sessed by  the  liquor  party, — the  dread  influence  that 
can  prevail  upon  a  great  corporation  to  dismiss  an 
employee  who  has  previously  been  satisfactory,  and 
that  can  frustrate  the  ends  of  justice,  and  obtain  its 
will  in  a  court  of  law. 

From  these  facts  let  us  take  warning,  and,  with  an 
increased  knowledge  of  the  terrible  work  of  strong 
drink  and  the  powerful  influence  of  the  party  that 
supports  it,  a  stronger  sense  of  the  great  need  of 
willing,  earnest  workers  who  will  "battle  for  the  right 
in  the  strength  of  the  Lord,"  and  a  new  realization  of 
our  own  personal  responsibility,  let  us  work  so  faith- 


THE  DECISIONS  OF  ANOTHER   TRIBUNAL,        197 

fully  for  God  and  humanity  against  the  powers  of 
evil,  that  the  grand  result  of  these  dark  plots  that 
were  formed  by  outlawed  liquor  sellers  in  an  illegal 
barroom  shall  be  the  adding  of  many  fresh  recruits 
to  the  ranks  of  those  whom  they  wished  to  destroy. 
And  whenever  we  have  an  opportunity  of  defeating 
these  enemies  of  good  and  taking  from  them  some  of 
their  ill-used  power,  let  us  strive,  lest  the  victory  be 
theirs,  to  give  a  strong  majority  on  the  side  of  right. 
In  this  way  may  the  plans  of  Satan  prove  instru- 
ments in  the  hands  of  the  Lord  that  shall  work  for 
his  glory  and  the  good  of  his  creatures. 


It  may  be  well  to  add  here  a  few  words  by  way  of 
explanation,  as  mention  is  several  times  made  in  this 
book  of  the  future  taking  of  a  Dominion  Plebiscite. 
At  time  of  writing  it  was  supposed  that  this  book 
would  be  in  print  long  before  the  vote  was  taken,  but 
for  various  reasons  its  publication  has  been  delayed. 
On  September  29th,  1898,  the  question  of  the  liquor 
traffic  was  submitted  to  the  people  of  Canada,  and  a 
considerable  majority  was  given  for  Prohibition. 
Quebec,  alone,  of  all  the  Provinces,  failed  to  declare 
against  the  traffic,  but  even  here  there  are  some 


198  THE  STORY  OF  A  DARK  PLOT, 

bright  spots,  prominent  among  which  is  the  county 
where  this  Dark  Plot  was  enacted,  which  gave  a  ma- 
jority for  Prohibition  of  529.  As  this  is  considera- 
bly more  than  that  formerly  given  for  the  Scott  Act, 
it  is  evident  that  the  liquor  men  of  Brome  are  not 
gaining  ground  by  dark  plots  or  any  other  means. 

By  this  Plebiscite,  the  prohibitionists  of  Canada 
have  been  given  a  privilege  never  enjoyed  by  any 
other  nation,  and  they  have  used  it  well,  but  now  the 
work  is  just  begun.  Let  them  not  rest  content  until 
the  end  for  which  they  have  voted  is  realized,  and 
then  the  cooperation  of  temperance  people  will  be 
needed  if  the  law  is  to  be  well  enforced. 

There  is  still  much  we  all  must  do  if  we  would  see 
our  country  freed  from  the  curse  of  strong  drink,  and 
let  prohibitionists  take  courage  from  the  victory  al- 
ready achieved,  and  with  renewed  zeal  press  the 
battle  to  the  gates. 


Ht 

5307 


